BY-PATHS 

OF 

Bible  Knowledge 


The  Relicious  Tract  Society. 
56,  Paternoster  Row. London. 


1 RECENT  DISCOVERIES  ON 
THE  TEMPLE  HILL  AT 
JERUSALEM. By  theRev 
J.Kmg.M.A 2.6 


BABYLONIAN  LIFE  AND 
HISTORY  By  E.A.Wallis 
Budge, M.A.  .....  S O 


GALILEE  IN  THE  TIME 
OF  CHRIST.  By  Selah 
Merrill.  D.D 2 6 


EGYPT  AND  SYRIA.Their 
Physical  Features  in  Relation 
to  Bible  History.  By  SirJ. 

W.  Daws  on.  F RS 3 0. 


ASSYRIA:  ITS  PRINCES, 
PRIESTS,  AND  PEOPLE. 

By  A.H.Sayce, LL.D 3 0 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2017  with  funding  from 
Getty  Research  Institute 


https://archive.org/details/assyriaitsprinceOOsayc 


Monolith  of  Shalmaneser  II. 
(From  the  original  in  the  British  Museum 


■®<L 


VXL  - 


> SYRIA  > 

PRIESTS,  AND  PEOPLE. 


-S.A  Y€E,  M.'A.  , . ' . 

• ' fa  IYOLOCY,  OXKORO,*  HON.  LL.D.  ‘DUBLIN1,  ETC;. 

A’NClCNt  .VOJvifMKNTS,’  j AN  INTROUVCTION ' 
■fcl  iAH,  4U(b.E£T»'K«;<>  ETC  • ' ' 


tOH  DO  % : " 

■ V • T f;  A c 

5 I'AV 


J3p--13ati)9  of  ISiSIe  iJnotolfOge. 

VII. 


ASSYRIA 

ITS  PRINCES,  PRIESTS,  AND  PEOPLE. 


KY 

A.  H.  SAYCE,  M.A. 


DEPUTY  PROFESSOR  OF  COMPARATIVE  PHILOLOGY,  OXFORD,  HON.  LL.D.  DUBLIN,  ETC. 

AUTHOR  OF  ‘ FRESH  LIGHT  FROM  THE  ANCIENT  MONUMENTS,’  ‘ AN  INTRODUCTION 
TO  EZRA,  NEHEMIAH,  AND  ESTHER,’  ETC. 


LONDON: 

THE  RELIGIOUS  TRACT  SOCIETY, 

56,  Paternoster  Row,  65,  St.  Paul’s  Churchyard, 
and  164,  Piccadilly. 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  I. 

The  Country  and  People  

PAGE 

...  21 

CHAPTER  II. 

Assyrian  History... 

... 

27 

CHAPTER  III. 

Assyrian  Religion 

... 

55 

CHAPTER  IV. 

Art,  Literature,  and  Science 

... 

86 

CHAPTER  V. 

Manners  and  Customs ; Trade  and  Government 

...  122 

ILLUSTRATIONS. 


+ 


PAGB 

Monolith  of  Shalmaneser  II  (from  the  original  in  the 
British  Museum) — Frontispiece. 

Assurbani-pal  and  his  Queen  (from  the  original  in  the 

British  Museum)  ...  ...  ...  ...  ...  49 

Nergal  (from  the  original  in  the  British  Museum)  ...  65 

Fragment  now  in  the  British  Museum  showing  Primitive 

Hieroglyphics  and  Cuneiform  Characters  side  by  side  92 

An  Assyrian  Book  (from  the  original  in  the  British 

Museum)  ...  ...  ...  ...  ...  ...  98 

Part  of  an  Assyrian  Cylinder  containing  Hezekiah’s 

Name  (from  the  original  in  the  British  Museum)  ...  104 

Assyrian  King  in  his  Chariot 125 

Siege  of  a City  ... 


127 


PREFACE. 


Among  the  many  wonderful  achievements  of  the  present 
century  there  is  none  more  wonderful  than  the  recovery 
and  decipherment  of  the  monuments  of  ancient  Nineveh. 
For  generations  the  great  oppressing  city  had  slept 
buried  beneath  the  fragments  of  its  own  ruins,  its  his 
tory  lost,  its  very  site  forgotten.  Its  name  had  passed 
into  the  region  of  myth  even  in  the  age  of  the  classical 
writers  of  Greece  and  Rome ; Ninos  or  Nineveh  had 
become  a hero-king  about  whom  strange  legends  were 
told,  and  whose  conquests  were  fabled  to  have  extended 
from  the  Mediterranean  to  India.  Little  was  known  of 
the  history  of  the  mighty  Assyrian  Empire  beyond  what 
might  be  learnt  from  the  Old  Testament,  and  that  little 
was  involved  in  doubt  and  obscurity.  Scholars  wrote 
long  treatises  to  reconcile  the  statements  of  Greek  his- 
torians with  those  of  Scripture,  but  they  only  succeeded 
in  evolving  theories  which  were  contradicted  and  over- 
thrown by  the  next  writer.  There  was  none  so  bold  as 
to  suggest  that  the  history  and  life  of  Assyria  were  still 
lying  hidden  beneath  the  ground,  ready  to  rise  up  and 
disclose  their  secrets  at  the  touch  of  a magician’s  rod. 
The  rod  was  the  spade  and  the  patient  sagacity  which 


8 


PREFACE. 


deciphered  and  interpreted  what  the  spade  had  found. 
It  might  have  been  thought  that  the  cuneiform  or  wedge- 
shaped  inscriptions  of  Assyria  could  never  be  forced  to 
reveal  their  mysteries.  The  language  in  which  they 
were  written  was  unknown,  and  all  clue  to  the  meaning 
of  the  multitudinous  characters  that  composed  them  had 
long  been  lost.  No  bilingual  text  came  to  the  aid  of  the 
decipherer  like  the  Rosetta  Stone,  whose  Greek  inscrip- 
tion had  furnished  the  key  to  the  meaning  of  the 
Egyptian  hieroglyphics.  Nevertheless  the  great  feat 
was  accomplished.  Step  by  step  the  signification  of  the 
cuneiform  characters  and  the  words  they  concealed  was 
made  out,  until  it  is  now  possible  to  translate  an  ordinary 
Assyrian  text  with  as  much  ease  and  certainty  as  a page 
of  the  Old  Testament. 

And  the  revelation  that  awaited  the  decipherer  was 
startling  in  the  extreme.  The  ruins  of  Nineveh  yielded 
not  only  sculptures  and  inscriptions  carved  in  stone,  but 
a whole  library  of  books.  True,  the  books  are  written 
upon  clay,  and  not  on  paper,  but  they  are  none  the  less 
real  books,  dealing  with  all  the  subjects  of  knowledge 
known  at  the  time  they  were  compiled,  and  presenting 
us  with  a clear  and  truthful  reflection  of  Assyrian 
thought  and  belief.  We  can  not  only  trace  the  archi- 
tectural plans  of  the  Assyrian  palaces,  and  study  the 
bas-reliefs  in  which  the  Assyrians  have  pictured  them- 
selves and  the  life  they  led ; we  can  also  penetrate  to 
their  inmost  thoughts  and  feelings,  and  read  their  history 
as  they  have  told  it  themselves 


PREFACE. 


9 


It  is  a strange  thing  to  examine  for  the  first  time  one 
of  the  clay  tablets  of  the  old  Assyrian  library.  Usually 
it  has  been  more  or  less  broken  by  the  catastrophe  of 
that  terrible  day  when  Nineveh  was  captured  by  its 
enemies,  and  the  palace  and  library  burnt  and  destroyed 
together.  But  whether  it  is  a fragment  or  a complete 
tablet,  it  is  impossible  not  to  handle  it  reverently  when 
cleaning  it  from  the  dirt  with  which  its  long  sojourn  in 
the  earth  has  encrusted  it,  and  spelling  out  its  words  for 
the  first  time  for  more  than  2,000  years.  When  last  the 
characters  upon  it  were  read,  it  was  in  days  when  Assyria 
was  still  a name  of  terror,  and  the  destruction  that  God’s 
prophets  had  predicted  was  still  to  come.  When  its  last 
reader  laid  it  aside,  Judah  had  not  as  yet  undergone  the 
chastisement  of  the  Babylonish  exile,  the  Old  Testament 
was  an  uncompleted  volume,  the  kingdom  of  the  Messiah 
a promise  of  the  distant  future.  We  are  brought  face  to 
face,  as  it  were,  with  men  who  were  the  contemporaries 
of  Isaiah,  of  Hezekiah,  of  Ahaz ; nay,  of  men  whose 
names  have  been  familiar  to  us  since  we  first  read  the 
Bible  by  our  mother’s  side. 

Tiglath-Pileser  and  Sennacherib  can  never  again  be 
to  us  mere  names.  We  possess  the  records  which  they 
caused  to  be  written,  and  in  which  they  told  the  story  of 
their  campaigns  in  Palestine.  The  records  are  not  copies 
of  older  texts,  with  all  the  errors  that  human  fallibility 
causes  copyists  and  scribes  to  make.  They  are  the 
original  documents  which  were  recited  to  the  kings  who 
ordered  them  to  be  compiled,  and  who  may  have  held 


10 


PREFACE. 


them  in  their  own  hands.  The  gulf  of  centuries  and 
forgetfulness  that  has  divided  us  from  Sennacherib  is 
filled  up  when  we  read  the  account  of  his  invasion  of 
Judah,  which  seems  to  come  from  his  own  lips.  Never 
again  can  the  heroes  of  the  Old  Testament  be  to  us  as 
lay-figures,  whose  story  is  told  by  a voice  that  comes 
from  a dark  and  unreal  past.  The  voice  is  now  become 
a living  one,  and  we  can  realise  that  Isaiah  and  those  of 
whom  Isaiah  wrote  were  men  of  flesh  and  blood  like 
ourselves,  with  the  same  passions,  the  same  needs,  the 
same  temptations. 

This  realisation  of  Old  Testament  history  is  not  the 
only  result  of  the  recovery  of  Assyria  upon  Biblical 
studies.  It  is  a very  important  result,  but  there  are 
others  besides  of  equal  importance.  One  of  these  is  the 
unexpected  confirmation  of  the  correctness  of  Holy  Writ 
which  Assyrian  discovery  has  afforded.  The  later  his- 
tory of  the  Old  Testament  no  longer  stands  alone.  Once 
it  was  itself  the  sole  witness  for  the  truth  of  the  narra- 
tives it  contains.  Classical  history  or  legend  dealt  with 
other  lands  and  other  ages ; there  were  no  documents 
besides  those  contained  in  the  Old  Testament  to  which 
we  could  appeal  in  support  of  its  statements.  All  is 
changed  now.  The  earth  has  yielded  up  its  secrets ; the 
ancient  civilisation  of  Assyria  has  stepped  forth  again 
into  the  light  of  day,  and  has  furnished  us  with  records, 
the  authenticity  of  which  none  can  deny,  which  run  side 
by  side  with  those  of  the  Books  of  Kings,  confirming, 
explaining,  and  illustrating  them.  It  has  been  said  that 


PREFACE. 


II 


just  at  the  moment  when  sceptical  criticism  seemed  to 
have  achieved  its  worst,  and  to  have  resolved  the  narra- 
tives of  the  Old  Testament  into  myths  or  fables,  God’s 
Providence  was  raising  up  from  the  grave  of  centuries  a 
new  and  unimpeachable  witness  for  their  truth.  Indeed, 
so  strikingly  was  this  the  case,  that  one  of  the  objections 
brought  against  the  correctness  of  Assyrian  decipher- 
ment in  its  early  days  was  that  Assyrian  monarchs  could 
never  have  concerned  themselves  with  petty  kingdoms 
like  those  of  Samaria  and  Judah,  as  the  decipherers  made 
them  do.  Before  the  cuneiform  monuments  were  inter- 
preted, no  one  could  have  suspected  that  they  would 
have  poured  such  a flood  of  light  upon  Old  Testament 
history. 

This  light  is  manifold.  The  very  language  of  the 
inscriptions  has  helped  to  explain  difficult  passages  in 
the  Hebrew  Bible.  Assyrian  turns  out  to  be  very  closely 
related  to  Hebrew,  as  closely  related,  in  fact,  as  two 
strongly  marked  English  dialects  are  to  one  another. 
There  is  no  other  Semitic  language  (except,  of  course, 
Phoenician,  which  is  practically  the  same  as  Hebrew) 
which  is  so  nearly  allied  to  it.  And  thanks  to  the 
library  of  Nineveh,  and  its  lexicons  and  lists  of  synony- 
mous words,  we  have  a larger  literature,  and  a larger 
vocabulary,  to  draw  upon  in  the  case  of  Assyrian  than 
we  have  in  the  case  of  Hebrew.  The  consequence  is 
that  Assyrian  may  sometimes  settle  the  meaning  of  a 
word  which  occurs  only  once  or  very  rarely  in  the  Old 
Testament.  Thus  the  word  z'bhul \ which  Hebrew 


12 


PREFACE. 


scholars  had  supposed  to  mean  ‘a  dwelling,’  is  shown 
by  the  Assyrian  texts  to  signify  a ‘height,’  so  that  in 
i Kings  viii.  13,  Solomon  does  not  declare  to  God  that 
he  had  built  Him  ‘an  house  to  dwell  in,’  as  the 
Authorised  Version  renders  the  passage,  but  ‘a  lofty 
temple.’  Naturally  words  of  Assyrian  origin,  like  Rab- 
shakeh  and  Tartan,  have  first  received  their  explanation 
from  the  decipherment  of  the  Assyrian  inscriptions. 
They  are  not  proper  names,  but  titles,  the  Rab-shakeh 
being  ‘the  chief  of  the  princes,’  or  Vizier,  and  the 
Tartan,  the  commander-in-chief. 

But  not  only  do  we  find  parallels  to  Hebrew  in  the 
individual  words  of  Assyrian,  we  also  find  parallel 
expressions  which  illustrate  and  explain  those  of  the 
Hebrew  text.  We  all  remember  the  statement  that  the 
‘ Lord  rained  upon  Sodom  and  upon  Gomorrah  brim- 
stone and  fire  from  the  Lord  out  of  heaven.’  The 
same  phrase  occurs  in  an  unpublished  Accadian  hymn 
addressed  to  a deity  whose  name  is  lost,  but  who  was 
probably  Rimmon  the  Air-god.  The  Accadian  original 
describes  him  as  ‘ raining  fire  and  stones  upon  the 
enemy,’  which  the  Assyrian  translation  changes  into 
‘ raining  stones  and  fire  upon  the  foe  ’ in  exact  confor- 
mity with  the  Hebrew  phrase.  The  familiar  expression 
‘ the  Lord  of  Hosts,’  similarly  finds  its  analogue  and  illus- 
tration in  the  common  Assyrian  title  of  the  supreme  god 
Assur : ‘ lord  of  the  legions  of  heaven  and  earth,’  these 
legions  being  the  multitudinous  spirits  and  angels  whose 
home  was  in  ‘ the  heaven  above  and  the  earth  below.’ 


PREFACE. 


13 


We  can  hardly  speak  here  of  the  accounts  of  the 
Creation,  the  Deluge,  and  the  Tower  of  Babel,  to  which 
Mr.  George  Smith  gave  the  name  of  ‘the  Chaldean 
Genesis/  and  which  agree  so  closely  with  the  corre- 
sponding accounts  in  the  Hebrew  Book  of  Genesis. 
Though  found  in  the  library  of  Nineveh,  they  are  really 
copies  of  older  Babylonian  works,  and  therefore  belong 
rather  to  Babylonian  than  to  Assyrian  history.  It  is 
only  the  account  of  the  Creation  in  six  days  which  may 
perhaps  be  of  purely  Assyrian  origin.  What  a resem- 
blance it  offers  to  the  first  chapter  of  Genesis  will  be 
seen  from  the  extracts  from  it  in  the  chapter  on  Assyrian 
Religion. 

It  is  in  the  domain  of  history  that  the  light  cast  upon 
Old  Testament  Scripture  by  Assyrian  research  has  been 
fullest  and  strongest.  No  one  can  read  the  sketch  of 
Assyrian  history  as  revealed  by  the  monuments  which 
is  given  in  the  following  pages,  without  perceiving  how 
important  it  is  for  the  proper  understanding  of  the 
ancient  Scriptures.  For  the  first  time  the  prophecies  in 
Isaiah  which  refer  to  a capture  of  Jerusalem  receive 
their  explanation,  and  the  sceptical  criticism  is  answered 
which  found  in  them  a prediction  of  events  that  never 
took  place.  The  chapter  in  which  Isaiah  describes  the 
onward  march  of  the  Assyrian  host  against  Jerusalem 
(ch.  x.)  is  no  ‘ ideal  ’ description  of  ‘ an  ideal  campaign/ 
the  verses  in  which  he  tells  us  of  the  sufferings  endured 
by  the  beleaguered  inhabitants  of  the  Jewish  capital 
(ch.  xxii.)  are  no  ‘exaggerated  account  of  a possible 


PREFACE. 


14 

catastrophe,’  the  prophecies  in  which  he  declares  that 
the  devoted  city  was  about  to  fall  into  the  hands  of  its 
enemies  (x.  34,  xxii.  14)  were  not  unfulfilled  threats. 
We  learn  from  the  inscriptions  of  Sargon  that  already, 
ten  years  before  the  campaign  of  his  son  Sennacherib, 
the  Assyrian  monarch  had  swept  through  ‘ the  wide- 
spread land  of  Judah,’  and  had  made  it  a tributary 
province.  It  was  not  the  army  of  Sennacherib  to  which 
Isaiah  was  alluding  on  the  day  whereon  he  declared  that 
the  Assyrian  host  was  at  Nob,  only  a short  half-hour  to 
the  north  of  Jerusalem,  but  the  more  terrible  veterans  of 
Sargon  who  marched  against  the  holy  city  along  the 
northern  road.  Similar  light  is  thrown  by  the  Assyrian 
monuments  upon  another  prophecy  of  Isaiah,  in  which 
he  pronounces  the  doom  upon  the  land  of  Egypt 
(ch.  xix.).  The  prophecy  has  sometimes  been  referred 
by  critics  to  a later  age  than  that  of  the  great  prophet ; 
but  the  records  of  Esar-haddon  prove  that  it  is  strictly 
applicable  to  his  time,  and  to  his  time  only.  The 
unexpected  revelation  they  have  made  to  us  of  the 
Assyrian  conquest  of  Egypt,  and  its  division  into  twenty 
vassal  satrapies  shows  us  who  was  the  ‘ cruel  lord  ’ and 
‘ fierce  king  ’ into  whose  hands  the  Egyptians  were 
given,  and  paints  the  picture  of  an  epoch  in  which  ‘ the 
Egyptians’  fought  ‘ every  one  against  his  brother,  and 
every  one  against  his  neighbour ; city  against  city,  and 
kingdom  against  kingdom.’  The  Isaianic  authorship  of 
‘ the  burden  of  Egypt  ’ can  never  again  be  denied. 

Nahum,  again,  we  can  now  read  with  a new  interest 


PREFACE. 


5 


and  a new  understanding.  The  very  date  of  his  pro- 
phecy, so  long  disputed,  can  be  fixed  approximately  by 
the  reference  it  contains  to  the  sack  of  No-Amon  or 
Thebes  (iii.  8).  The  prophecy  was  delivered  hard  upon 
sixty  years  before  the  fall  of  Nineveh,  when  the  Assyrian 
Empire  was  at  the  height  of  its  prosperity,  and  mistress 
of  the  Eastern  world.  Human  foresight  could  little 
have  imagined  that  so  great  and  terrible  a power  was  so 
soon  to  disappear.  And  yet  at  the  very  moment  when 
it  seemed  strongest  and  most  secure,  the  Jewish  prophet 
was  uttering  a prediction  which  the  excavations  of  Botta 
and  Layard  have  shown  to  have  been  carried  out 
literally  in  fact.  As  we  thread  our  way  among  the  ruins 
of  Nineveh,  or  trace  the  after  history  of  the  deserted 
and  forgotten  site,  we  see  everywhere  the  fulfilment  of 
Nahum’s  prophecy.  Of  the  words  that  he  pronounced 
against  the  doomed  city,  there  is  none  which  has  not 
come  to  pass. 

Those  who  would  learn  how  marvellously  the  monu- 
ments of  Assyria  illustrate  and  corroborate  the  pages  of 
sacred  history,  need  only  compare  the  records  they 
contain  with  the  narratives  of  the  Books  of  Kings  which 
relate  to  the  same  period.  The  one  complements  and 
supplies  the  missing  chapters  given  by  the  other.  The 
Bible  informs  us  why  Sennacherib  left  Hezekiah 
unpunished,  and  never  despatched  another  army  to 
Palestine  ; the  cuneiform  annals  explain  the  causes  of 
his  murder,  and  the  reason  of  the  flight  of  his  sons  to 
Ararat  or  Armenia.  The  single  passage  in  Scripture  in 


1 6 


PREFACE. 


which  the  name  of  Sargon  is  mentioned,  no  longer 
remains  isolated  and  unintelligible  ; we  have  no  longer 
any  need  to  identify  him  with  Tiglath-Pileser,  or 
Shalmaneser,  or  any  other  Assyrian  prince  with  whom 
the  fancy  of  older  commentators  confounded  him  ; we 
now  know  that  he  was  one  of  the  most  powerful  of 
Assyrian  conquerors,  and  we  have  his  own  independent 
testimony  to  that  siege  and  capture  of  Ashdod  which  is 
the  occasion  of  the  mention  of  his  name  in  Scripture. 
Between  the  history  of  the  monuments  and  the  history 
of  the  Bible  there  is  perpetual  contact ; and  the  voice 
of  the  monuments  is  found  to  be  in  strict  harmony  with 
that  of  the  Old  Testament; 

Before  concluding  this  Preface,  I have  to  thank  Mr. 
W.  G.  Hird  for  his  kindness  in  undertaking  the  task  of 
compiling  an  Index  to  the  volumo. 


CHRONOLOGICAL  TABLE  OF  THE  KINGS 
OF  ASSYRIA.. 


Bel-kapkapi  ... 

Adasi 

Bel-bani,  his  son 
Assur-sum-esir 
Adar-tiglath-Assurl  ... 

Irba-Rimmon ...  ...  ...  ... 

Assur-nadin-akhi,  his  son 
Assur-bel-nisi-sui 

Buyur-Assur- 

Assur-yuballidh  .... 

Beknirari,  his  son 
Pudil  (Pedael),  his  son 
Rimmon-mrari  I,  his  son 
Shalmaneser  I,  his  son  ....  ... 

Tiglath-Adar  I,  his  son 
Bel'kudur-utsur  (Belchadrezzar),  his  son 
Assur-narara  and  Nebo-dan  .... 
Adar-pal-esar  (A.dar-pileser)  ... 
Assur-dan  I,  his  son.  ... 

Mutaggil-Nebo,  his  son 
Assur-ris-ilim,  his  son... 

Tiglath-pileser  I,  his  son^ 

Assur-bel-kala,  hissojit  «... 


B.c. 

....  i7oo(?) 

...  1650  (?) 

....  i6oo(?) 

....  ic6qo  (?) 

— J.SSoO) 

cir.  1450 
...  1420 

1400, 

...  1380 

•T.  Ids® 

....  I.32O 

...  I3OO 
...  1280 
...  1260 
1240 

...  1.2  20 

...  1200 
...  11180 

....  II-60 

.....  £U40 

......  I I IO 

!> 


i8 


CHRONOLOGICAL  TABLE. 


B.C. 


Samas-Rimmon  I,  his  brother 
Assur-rab-buri ... 

Assur-zalmati  ... 

1090 

Assur-dan  II  ... 

930 

Rimmon-nirari  II,  his  son  ... 

... 

... 

911 

Tiglath-Adar  II,  his  son 

... 

889 

Assur-natsir-pal,  his  son 

883 

Shalmaneser  II,  his  son 

... 

858 

Samas-Rimmon  II,  his  son  ... 

823 

Rimmon-nirari  III,  his  son  ... 

... 

810 

Shalmaneser  III 

... 

781 

Assur-dan  III 

771 

Assur-nirari  ... 

Pulu  (Pul)  usurps  the  throne  and  founds  the 
Empire  under  the  name  of  Tiglath-Pileser  II 

2nd 

753 

1 2 th  of  Iyyar 

Ulula  (Elulaeos)  of  Tinu,  usurper,  takes  the  name  of 

745 

Shalmaneser  IV 

727 

Sargon,  usurper 

... 

722 

Sennacherib  of  Khabigal,  his  son 

1 2th  of  Ab 

705 

Esar-haddon,  his  son... 

681 

Assur-bani-pal  (Sardanapalos),  his 

son 

668 

Assur-etil-ili-yukinni,  his  son 
(Bel)-sum-iskun 

Esar-haddon  II  (Sarakos)  ... 



cir. 

640 

Fall  of  Nineveh  

... 

... 

606  (?) 

TABLE  OF  BIBLICAL  DATES  ACCORDING 
TO  THE  ASSYRIAN  MONUMENTS. 


B.C. 

Battle  of  Karkar ; Ahab  ally  of  Damascus  against  Shal- 
maneser of  Assyria  ...  ...  ...  ...  ...  853 

Death  of  Ahab  851 

Campaign  of  Shalmaneser  against  Hadadezer  (Ben- 
hadad  II)  of  Damascus  ...  ...  ...  ...  850 

Second  campaign  against  Hadadezer  ...  ...  ...  845 

Murder  of  Hadadezer  by  Hazael  ...  ...  ...  843 

Campaign  of  Shalmaneser  against  Hazael ; tribute  paid 
by  Jehu  of  Samaria  ...  ...  ...  ...  ...  841 

Damascus  captured  by  the  Assyrians ; tribute  paid  by 
Samaria...  ...  ...  ...  ...  ...  ...  804 

Campaign  of  the  Assyrians  against  Damascus  ...  ...  773 

Tiglath-Pileser  II  attacks  Hamath;  submission  of  Uzziah; 

fall  of  Arpad  ...  ...  ...  ...  ...  743-40 

Tribute  paid  to  Tiglath-Pileser  by  Menahem  of  Samaria 
and  Rezon  of  Damascus  ...  ...  ...  ...  738 

Damascus  besieged  by  the  Assyrians ; the  tribes  beyond 
the  Jordan  carried  away ; Jehoahaz  (Ahaz)  of  Judah 
becomes  a vassal  of  Tiglath-Pileser  ...  ...  ...  734 

Damascus  taken  and  Rezon  slain  ; Ahaz  at  Damascus...  732 
Samaria  besieged  by  Shalmaneser  V ...  ...  ...  723 

Accession  of  Sargon  ...  ...  ...  ...  ...  722 

Merodach-baladan  conquers  Babylonia  ...  ...  ...  721 


B 2 


20 


TABLE  OF  BIBLICAL  DATES. 


B.C. 

Capture  of  Samaria  by  Sargon  ...  ...  ...  ...  720 

Hamath  conquered  by  Sargon  ; Sabako  (So)  of  Egypt 
defeated  at  Raphia  ...  ...  ...  ...  ...  719 

Embassy  of  Merodach-baladan  to  Hezekiah  ...  ...  712 

Capture  of  Jerusalem  and  Ashdod  by  Sargon  ...  ...  71 1 

Merodach-baladan  driven  from  Babylonia  ...  ...  710 

Merodach-baladan  recovers  Babylonia  for  six  months  ...  703 

Sennacherib’s  campaign  against  Judah  ; battle  of  Eltekeh  ; 

overthrow  of  the  Assyrian  army  at  Jerusalem...  ...  701 

Murder  of  Sennacherib  by  his  two  sons...  ...  ...  68 1 

Manasseh  appears  among  the  Assyrian  tributaries  ; Egypt 
conquered  by  Esar-haddon  ...  ...  ...  ...  676 

Destruction  of  Thebes  (No- Amun)  by  the  Assyrians  ...  665 


ASSYRIA: 

ITS  PRINCES,  PRIESTS,  AND  PEOPLE. 


CHAPTER  I. 

The  Country  and  People. 

Assyria  was  the  name  given  to  the  district  which  had 
been  called  ‘ the  land  of  Assur  ’ by  its  own  inhabitants. 
Assur,  however,  had  originally  been  the  name,  not  of  a 
country,  but  of  a city  founded  in  remote  times  on  the 
western  bank  of  the  Tigris,  midway  between  the  Greater 
and  the  Lesser  Zab.  It  was  the  primitive  capital  of  the 
district  in  which  it  stood,  and  to  which,  accordingly,  it 
lent  its  name.  It  seems  to  have  been  built  by  a people 
who  spoke  an  agglutinative  language,  like  the  languages 
of  the  modern  Fins  and  Turks,  and  who  were  afterwards 
supplanted  by  the  Semitic  Assyrians.  The  name  in 
their  language  probably  signified  ‘ water-boundary.’ 
When  the  country  was  occupied  by  the  Semitic  As- 
syrians the  name  was  slightly  changed,  so  as  to  assume 
the  form  of  a word  which  in  Assyrian  meant  ‘ gracious.’ 

It  so  happened  that  Assyrian  mythology  knew  of  a 
deity  who  represented  the  firmament,  and  was  addressed 


22  ASSYRIA:  ITS  PRINCES,  PRIESTS,  AND  PEOPLE. 


as  Sar.  The  name  of  Sar  came  in  time  to  be  confused 
with  that  of  Assur,  the  divine  patron  of  the  Assyrian 
capital,  the  result  being  that  Assur  signified  not  only  a 
city  and  country,  but  also  the  supreme  deity  worshipped 
by  their  inhabitants.  Assur,  in  fact,  became  the  divine 
impersonation  of  the  power  and  constitution  of  Assyria ; 
at  the  same  time  he  was  also  * the  gracious  * god  and  the 
primaeval  firmament  of  heaven. 

Assur,  whose  ruins  are  now  called  Kalah  Sherghat, 
did  not  always  remain  the  capital  of  Assyria.  Its  place 
was  taken  by  a group  of  cities  some  60  miles  to  the 
north,  above  the  Greater  Zab,  and  on  the  eastern  side  of 
the  Tigris,  namely,  Nineveh,  Calah,  and  Dur-Sargon. 
The  foundation  of  Nineveh,  the  modern  Kouyunjik, 
probably  goes  back  to  as  early  an  age  as  that  of  Assur, 
but  it  was  not  until  a much  later  period  that  it  became 
an  important  city,  and  supplanted  the  older  capital  of 
the  kingdom.  Calah,  now  called  Nimrud,  though  built 
some  four  centuries  before,  was  not  made  the  seat  of 
royalty  until  the  reigns  of  Assur-natsir-pal  and  Shal- 
maneser II,  in  the  9th  century  B.C.,  and  Dur-Sargon 
(the  modern  Khorsabad),  as  its  name  implies,  was  the 
creation  of  Sargon.  Instead  of  Dur-Sargon  the  Book  of 
Genesis  (x.  11)  mentions  Resen  ‘between  Nineveh  and 
Calah.’  The  site  of  Resen  has  not  been  identified, 
though  its  name  has  been  met  with  in  the  Assyrian 
inscriptions  under  the  form  of  Res-eni,  ‘ the  head  of  the 
spring.’ 

The  passage  of  Genesis  in  which  Resen  is  referred  to 


THE  COUNTRY  AND  PEOPLE. 


23 


unfortunately  admits  of  a double  translation.  If  we 
adopt  the  rendering  of  the  margin,  and  translate  ‘ out  of 
that  land  he  went  forth  into  Assyria  and  builded 
Nineveh,’  we  might  infer  that  Nineveh  and  its  neigh- 
bouring towns  had  no  existence  before  the  days  when 
Babylonian  emigrants  settled  in  the  territory  of  the  city 
of  Assur,  and  superseded  its  older  inhabitants.  How- 
ever this  may  be,  we  know  from  the  cuneiform  monu- 
ments that  the  rise  of  Assyria  did  not  take  place  until 
the  Babylonian  monarchy  was  already  growing  old. 
The  country  afterwards  known  as  Assyria  had  been 
comprised  in  Gutium  or  Kurdistan,  a name  which  has 
been  identified,  with  great  probability,  by  Sir  H.  Raw- 
linson,  with  the  Goyyim  or  ‘ nations  ’ of  Genesis  xiv. 
over  which  Tidal  was  king.  There  seems  to  have  been 
a time  when  the  rulers  of  Assur  were  mere  governors 
appointed  by  the  Babylonian  monarchs  ; at  all  events, 
the  earliest  of  whom  we  know  do  not  give  themselves 
the  title  of  king,  but  use  a word  which  signifies  * viceroy  ’ 
in  the  Chaldean  inscriptions. 

These  viceroys,  however,  managed  eventually  to  shake 
off  the  yoke  of  their  Babylonian  masters,  and  one  of 
them,  Bel-kapkapi  by  name,  established  an  independent 
kingdom  at  Assur  in  the  17th  or  16th  century  before 
our  era.  His  kingdom  extended  on  both  sides  of  the 
Tigris,  and  doubtless  included  the  country  north  of  the 
Greater  Zab,  where  Nineveh  was  situated.  The  exact 
frontiers  of  Assyria,  however,  were  never  accurately 
fixed.  They  varied  with  the  military  power  and  con- 


24  ASSYRIA:  ITS  PRINCES,  PRIESTS,  AND  PEOPLE. 


quests  of  its  monarchs.  Sometimes  portions  of  the 
plateau  of  Mesopotamia  on  the  west  were  comprehended 
within  it,  as  well  as  the  country  through  which  the 
Tigris  flowed,  as  far  south  as  the  borders  of  Babylonia, 
and  as  far  north  as  the  Kurdish  mountains.  At  other 
times  Assyria  was  confined  to  the  narrow  space  within 
which  its  great  cities  stood. 

The  -inhabitants  of  Assyria  belonged  to  the  Semitic 
stock,  that  is  to  say,  they  were  allied  in  blood  and 
language  to  the  Hebrews,  the  Aramaeans,  and  the 
Arabs,  The  older  population  had  been  either  expelled 
or  destroyed.  The  Assyrians  thus  differed  from  the 
Babylonians,  who  were  a mixed  race,  partly  Semitic 
and  partly  non-Semitic.  The  non-Semitic  element  is 
generally  termed  Accadian  ; it  spoke  agglutinative 
dialects,  and  was  the  original  possessor  of  the  plain 
of  Chaldaea.  The  Accadians  invented  the  cuneiform 
system  of  writing,  founded  the  chief  cities  and  civilisa- 
tion of  Babylonia,  and  erected  the  earliest  Babylonian 
monuments  with  which  we  are  acquainted.  It  was  only 
gradually  that  they  yielded  to  the  advance  of  the 
Semites  ; in  fact,  the  final  triumph  of  the  Semites  in 
Babylonia  was  only  effected  by  their  amalgamation 
with  the  old  population  of  the  country,  and  their  com- 
plete acceptance  of  Accadian  culture.  The  Accadian 
language  lingered  long,  and  when  it  died  out  was  pre- 
served as  a learned  language,  like  Latin  in  our  own  day, 
which  every  educated  Babylonian  was  expected  to  know. 

It  was  natural,  therefore,  that  the  pure-blooded 


THE  COUNTRY  AND  PEOPLE. 


25 


Semites  of  Assyria  and  the  mixed  population  of  Baby- 
lonia should  differ  from  one  another  in  many  respects. 
The  Babylonians  were  agriculturists,  fond  of  literature 
and  peaceful  pursuits.  The  Assyrians,  on  the  contrary, 
have  been  appropriately  termed  the  Romans  of  the 
East : they  were  a military  people,  caring  for  little  else 
save  war  and  trade.  Their  literature,  like  their  culture 
and  art,  was  borrowed  from  Babylonia,  and  they  never 
took  kindly  to  it.  Even  under  the  magnificent  patron- 
age of  Assur-bani-pal,  Assyrian  literature  was  an 
exotic.  It  was  cultivated  only  by  the  few  ; whereas  in 
Babylonia  the  greater  part  of  the  population  seems  to 
have  been  able  to  read  and  write.  If  the  Assyrian  was 
less  luxurious  than  his  Babylonian  neighbour,  he  was 
also  less  humane.  Indeed,  the  Assyrian  annals  glory  in 
the  record  of  a ferocity  at  which  we  stand  aghast.  On 
the  other  hand,  the  Assyrian  was  not  so  superstitious  as 
the  Babylonian,  though  he  ascribed  his  successes  to  the 
favour  of  Assur,  and  impaled  the  inhabitants  of  con- 
quered towns  or  burnt  them  alive  because  they  did  riot 
believe  in  his  national  deity.  He  was,  as  Nahum 
declared,  the  lion  which  ‘ did  tear  in  pieces  enough  for 
his  whelps,  and  strangled  for  his  lionesses,  and  filled 
his  holes  with  prey,  and  his  dens  with  ravin.’ 

Assyria  was  so  wholly  a military  power,  that  the 
destruction  of  Nineveh  not  only  destroyed  the  Assyrian 
Empire  but  blotted  out  the  Assyrian  nation  itself. 
When  ‘the  gates  of  the  rivers’  of  Nineveh — the  Tigris 
and  Khusur — were  opened,  and  ‘ the  palace  dissolved,’ 


26  ASSYRIA:  ITS  PRINCES,  PRIESTS,  AND  PEOPLE. 

Assyria  ceased  to  exist.  In  the  Sassanian  period  the 
mounds  which  covered  the  ruins  of  the  old  city  were  for 
a short  time  occupied  by  the  houses  of  a village,  but 
these,  too,  disappeared  after  a while,  and  the  very  site 
of  Nineveh  remained  for  centuries  unknown.  Rich,  in 
1 8 1 8,  conjectured  that  the  mounds  of  Kouyunjik,  oppo- 
site the  modern  town  of  Mosul,  concealed  its  ruins 
beneath  them,  but  it  was  not  until  the  excavations  of 
the  Frenchman  Botta,  in  1842,  and  the  Englishman 
Layard,  in  1845,  that  the  remains  first  of  Dur-Sargon, 
and  then  of  Nineveh  itself,  were  revealed  to  the  eyes  of 
a wondering  world.  The  capital  of  the  Assyrian  Empire 
was  recovered,  and  with  it  the  sculptured  monuments  of 
its  kings,  and  the  relics  of  its  clay-inscribed  library. 
The  discovery  came  at  an  opportune  moment.  The 
cuneiform  inscriptions  of  Persia  had  at  last  yielded  up 
their  secrets  to  the  patient  sagacity  of  European 
scholars,  and  had  furnished  the  key  to  other  inscriptions, 
-—also  in  cuneiform  characters,  but  of  a wholly  different 
kind,  and  expressing  a wholly  different  language — which 
now  proved  to  be  the  long-lost  records  of  the  Assyrian 
people.  Little  by  little  the  records  were  deciphered  ; 
fresh  expeditions  to  the  buried  cities  of  Assyria  and 
Babylonia  returned  to  Europe  with  fresh  spoils,  and  it 
is  now  possible  to  describe  the  history  and  even  the 
daily  life  and  thoughts  of  a people  who  but  half  a 
century  ago  were  but  a mere  name.  The  following 
pages  are  intended  to  give  a picture  of  that  history  and 
life. 


CHAPTER  II. 


Assyrian  History. 

Assyrian  history,  as  we  have  seen,  begins  with  the 
patesis  or  viceroys  of  the  city  of  Assur.  We  know  little 
about  them  except  their  names;  contemporaneous  annals 
do  not  commence  until  Assyria  has  ceased  to  be  the 
dependency  of  a foreign  power,  and  has  become  an 
independent  kingdom.  It  was  in  the  17th  or  16th  cen- 
tury before  the  Christian  era  that  Bel-kapkapi  first  gave 
himself  the  title  of  king.  For  two  or  three  centuries 
afterwards  our  chief  information  about  the  monarchy  he 
founded  is  derived  from  the  relations,  sometimes  hostile 
and  sometimes  peaceable,  which  his  successors  had  with 
Babylonia.  One  of  them,  however,  Rimmon-nirari  I by 
name  (about  B.C.  1320),  has  left  us  an  inscription  in 
which  he  recounts  the  wars  he  waged  against  the  Baby- 
lonians, the  Kurds,  the  Aramaeans,  and  the  Shuites, 
nomad  tribes  who  extended  along  the  western  bank  of 
the  Euphrates.  It  was  his  son,  Shalmaneser  I,  to  whom 
the  foundation  of  Calah  is  ascribed.  P"or  six  generations 
his  descendants  followed  one  another  on  the  throne  ; 
then  came  Tiglath-Pileser  I,  who  may  be  regarded  as 


28  ASSYRIA:  ITS  PRINCES,  PRIESTS,  AND  PEOPLE. 

the  founder  of  the  first  Assyrian  Empire.  He  carried  his 
arms  as  far  as  Cilicia  and  Malatiyeh  on  the  west,  and 
the  wild  tribes  of  Kurdistan  on  the  east ; he  overthrew 
the  Moschi  or  Meshech,  defeated  the  Hittites  and  their 
Colchian  allies,  and  erected  a memorial  of  his  conquests 
at  the  sources  of  the  Tigris.  The  Hittite  city  of  Pethor, 
at  the  junction  of  the  Euphrates  and  Sajur,  was  gar- 
risoned with  Assyrian  soldiers,  and  at  Arvad  the  As- 
syrian monarch  symbolised  his  subjection  of  the  Medi- 
terranean by  embarking  in  a ship  and  killing  a dolphin 
in  the  sea.  In  Nineveh  he  established  a botanical 
garden,  which  he  filled  with  the  strange  trees  he  had 
brought  back  with  him  from  his  campaigns.  In  B.c.  1130 
he  marched  into  Babylonia,  and,  after  a momentary 
repulse  at  the  hands  of  the  Babylonian  king,  defeated 
his  antagonists  on  the  banks  of  the  Lower  Zab.  Baby- 
lonia was  ravaged,  and  Babylon  itself  was  captured. 

With  the  death  of  Tiglath-Pileser  I,  Assyrian  history 
becomes  for  awhile  obscure.  The  sceptre  fell  into  feeble 
hands,  and  the  distant  conquests  of  the  empire  were 
lost.  It  was  during  this  period  of  abeyance  that  the 
kingdom  of  David  and  Solomon  arose  in  the  west.  The 
Assyrian  power  did  not  revive  until  the  reign  of  Assur- 
dan  II,  whose  son,  Rimmon-nirari  II  (b.c.  91  i — 889), 
and  great-grandson,  Assur-natsir-pal  (B.C.  883 — 858),  led 
their  desolating  armies  through  Western  Asia,  and 
made  the  name  of  Assyria  once  more  terrible  to  the 
nations  around  them.  Assur-natsir-pal  was  at  once 
one  of  the  most  ferocious  and  most  energetic  of  the 


ASSYRIAN  HISTORY. 


29 


Assyrian  kings.  His  track  was  marked  by  impalements, 
by  pyramids  of  human  heads,  and  by  other  barbarities 
too  horrible  to  be  described.  But  his  campaigns  reached 
further  than  those  of  Tiglath-Pileser  had  done.  Armenia, 
Mesopotamia,  and  Kurdistan,  were  overrun  again  and 
again  ; the  Babylonians  were  forced  to  sue  for  peace  ; 
Sangara,  the  Hittite  king  of  Carchemish,  paid  tribute, 
and  the  rich  cities,  of  Phoenicia  poured  their  offerings 
into  the  treasury  of  Nineveh.  The  armies  of  Assyria 
penetrated  even  to  Nizir,  where  the  ark  of  the  Chaldsean 
Noah  was  believed  to  have  rested  on  the  peak  of 
Rowandiz.  In  Assyria  itself  the  cities  were  embellished 
with  the  spoils  of  foreign  conquest  ; splendid  palaces 
were  erected,  and  Calah,  which  had  fallen  into  decay, 
was  restored.  A library  was  erected  there,  and  it 
became  the  favourite  residence  of  Assur-natsir-pal. 

He  was,  succeeded  by  his  son  Shalmaneser  II,  so 
named,  perhaps,  after  the  original  founder  of  Calah. 
Shalmaneser’s  military  successes  exceeded  even  those  of 
his  father,  and  his  long  reign  of  thirty-five  years  marks 
the  climax  of  the  first  Assyrian  Empire.  His  annals  are 
chiefly  to  be  found  engraved  on  three  monuments  now 
in  the  British  Museum.  One  of  these  is  a monolith 
from  Kurkh,  a place  about  twenty  miles  from  Diarbekr. 
The  full-length  figure  of  Shalmaneser  is  sculptured  upon 
it,  and  the  surface  of  the  stone  is  covered  with  the 
inscription.  Another  monument  is  a small  ‘ obelisk  ’ 
of  polished  black  stone,  the  upper  part  of  which  is 
shaped  like  three  ascending  steps.  Inscriptions  run 


30  ASSYRIA:  ITS  PRINCES,  PRIESTS,  AND  PEOPLE. 


round  its  four  sides,  as  well  as  small  bas-reliefs  repre- 
senting the  tribute  offered  to  ‘the  great  king’  by 
foreign  states.  Among  the  tribute-bearers  are  the 
Israelitish  subjects  of  ‘Jehu,  son  of  Omri.’  The  third 
monument  is  one  which  was  discovered  in  1878  at 
Balawat,  about  nine  miles  from  Nimrud  or  Calah.  It 
consists  of  the  bronze  framework  of  two  colossal  doors, 
of  rectangular  shape,  twenty-two  feet  high  and  twenty- 
six  feet  broad.  The  doors  opened  into  a temple,  and 
were  made  of  wood,  to  which  the  bronze  was  fastened 
by  means  of  nails.  The  bronze  was  cut  into  bands, 
which  ran  in  a horizontal  direction  across  the  doors,  and 
were  each  divided  into  two  lines  of  embossed  reliefs. 
These  reliefs  were  hammered  out,  and  not  cast,  and  the 
rudeness  of  their  execution  proves  that  they  were  the 
work  of  native  artists,  and  not  of  the  Phoenician  settlers 
in  Nineveh,  of  whose  skill  in  such  work  we  have  several 
specimens.  Short  texts  are  added  to  explain  the  reliefs, 
so  that  the  various  campaigns  and  cities  represented  in 
them  can  all  be  identified.  Among  the  cities  is  the 
Hittite  capital  Carchemish,  and  the  warriors  of  Armenia 
are  depicted  in  a costume  strikingly  similar  to  that  of 
the  ancient  Greeks. 

Shalmaneser  s first  campaign  was  against  the  restless 
tribes  of  Kurdistan.  He  then  turned  northward,  and 
fell  upon  the  Armenian  king  of  Van  and  the  Manna  or 
Minni  (see  Jer.  li.  27),  who  inhabited  the  country  between 
the  mountains  of  Kotur  and  Lake  Urumiyeh.  The 
Hittites  of  Carchemish,  with  their  allies  from  Cilicia  and 


ASSYRIAN  HISTORY. 


31 


other  neighbouring  districts,  were  next  compelled  to  sue 
for  peace,  and  the  acquisition  of  Pethor,  which  had  been 
lost  after  Tiglath-Pileser’s  death,  again  gave  the  Assy- 
rians the  command  of  the  ford  over  the  Euphrates. 
The  result  of  this  was,  that  in  B.C.  854  Shalmaneser 
came  into  conflict  with  the  kingdom  of  Hamath.  The 
common  danger  had  roused  Hadadezer  of  Damascus, 
called  Benhaded  II  in  the  Bible,  to  make  common  cause 
with  Hamath,  and  a confederacy  was  formed  to  resist 
the  Assyrian  advance.  Among  the  confederates  ‘ Ahab 
of  Israel’  is  mentioned  as  furnishing  the  allies  with 
2,000  chariots  and  10,000  infantry,  But  the  confederacy 
was  shattered  at  Karkar  or  Aroer,  although  Shalmaneser 
had  himself  suffered  too  severely  to  be  able  to  follow  up 
his  victory.  For  a time,  therefore,  Syria  remained  un- 
molested, and  the  Assyrian  king  turned  his  attention  to 
Babylonia,  which  he  reduced  to  a state  of  vassalage, 
under  the  pretext  of  assisting  the  Babylonian  sovereign 
against  his  rebel  brother. 

Twelve  years,  however,  after  the  battle  of  Karkar, 
Shalmaneser  was  once  more  in  the  west.  Hadadezer 
had  been  succeeded  by  Hazael  on  the  throne  of  Damas- 
cus, and  it  was  against  him  that  the  full  flood  of  Assyrian 
power  was  turned.  For  some  time  he  managed  to  stem 
it,  but  in  B.C.  841  he  suffered  a crushing  defeat  on  the 
heights  of  Shenir  (see  Deut.  iii.  9),  and  his  camp,  along 
with  1,121  chariots  and  470  carriages,  fell  into  the  hands 
of  the  Assyrians,  who  proceeded  to  besiege  him  in  his 
capital,  Damascus.  The  siege,  however,  was  soon  raised, 


3 2 ASSYRIA:  ITS  PRINCES,  PRIESTS,  AND  PEOPLE. 


and  Shalmaneser  contented  himself  with  ravaging  the 
Hauran  and  marching  to  Beyrout,  where  his  image  was 
carved  on  the  rocky  promontory  of  Baal-rosh,  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Nahr  el-Kelb.  It  was  while  he  was  in 
this  neighbourhood  that  the  ambassadors  of  Jehu  arrived 
with  offers  of  tribute  and  submission.  The  tribute,  we 
are  told,  consisted  of  ‘ silver,  gold,  a golden  bowl,  vessels 
of  gold,  goblets  of  gold,  pitchers  of  gold,  a sceptre  for 
the  king’s  hand  and  spear-handles,’  and  Jehu  is  errone- 
ously entitled  ‘ the  son  of  Omri.’ 

After  the  defeat  of  Hazael  Shalmaneser’s  expeditions 
were  only  to  distant  regions  like  Phoenicia,  Kappadokia, 
and  Armenia,  for  the  sake  of  exacting  tribute.  No 
further  attempt  was  made  at  permanent  conquest,  and 
after  B.C.  834  the  old  king  ceased  to  lead  his  armies  in 
person,  the  tartan  or  commander-in-chief  taking  his 
pla,ce.  Not  long  afterwards  a revolt  broke,  out  headed 
by  his.  eldest  son,  who  seems  to  have  thought  that  he 
would  have  little  difficulty  in  wresting  the  sceptre  from 
the  hands,  of  the  enfeebled  king.  Twenty-seven  cities, 
including  Nineveh  and  Assur,  joined  the  revolt,  which 
was,  however,  finally  put  down  by  the  energy  and 
military  capacity  of  Shalmaneser’s  second,  son  Samas- 
Rimm.on,  who  succeeded  him  soon  afterwards  (B.C. 
823-— 810).  On  his  death  he  was  followed  by  his  son 
Rimmon-nirari  III  (810 — 781),  who  compelled  Mariha 
of  Damascus  to  pay  him  tribute,  as  well  as  the 
Phoenicians,  Israelites,  Edomites,  and  Philistines.  But 
the  vigour  of  the  dynasty  wa.s  beginning  to  fail.  A few 


ASSYRIAN  HISTORY. 


33 


short  reigns  followed  that  of  Rimmon-nirari,  during 
which  the  first  Assyrian  Empire  melted  away.  A 
formidable  power  arose  in  Armenia,  the  Assyrian  armies 
were  driven  to  the  frontiers  of  their  own  country,  and 
disaffection  began  to  prevail  in  Assyria  itself.  At 
length,  on  the  15th  of  June,  B.C.  763,  an  eclipse  of  the 
sun  took  place,  and  the  city  of  Assur  rose  in  revolt. 
The  revolt  lasted  three  years,  and  before  it  could  be 
crushed  the  outlying  provinces  were  lost.  When 
Assur-nirari,  the  last  of  his  line,  ascended  the  throne 
in  B.C.  753,  the  empire  was  already  gone,  and  the 
Assyrian  cities  themselves  were  surging  with  discontent. 
Ten  years  later  the  final  blow  was  struck  ; the  army 
leclared  itself  against  their  monarch,  and  he  and  his 
3ynasty  fell  together.  On  the  30th  of  Iyyar  of  the  year 
B.C.  745,  a military  adventurer,  Pul,  seized  the  vacant 
crown,  and  assumed  the  venerable  name  of  Tiglath- 
Pileser. 

If  we  may  believe  Greek  tradition,  Tiglath-Pileser  II 
began  life  as  a gardener.  Whatever  might  have  been 
his  origin,  however,  he  proved  to  be  a capable 
ruler,  a good  general,  and  a far-sighted  administrator. 
He  was  the  founder  of  the  second  Assyrian  Empire, 
which  differed  essentially  from  the  first  The  first 
empire  was  at  best  a loosely-connected  military 
organization ; campaigns  were  made  into  distant 
countries  for  the  sake  of  plunder  and  tribute,  but  little 
effort  was  made  to  retain  the  districts  that  had  been 
conquered.  Almost  as  soon  as  the  Assyrian  armies 

C 


34  ASSYRIA  : ITS  PRINCES,  PRIESTS,  AND  PEOPLE. 


were  out  of  sight,  the  conquered  nations  shook  off  the 
Assyrian  yoke,  and  it  was  only  in  regions  bordering  on 
Assyria  that  garrisons  were  left  by  the  Assyrian  king. 
And  whenever  the  Assyrian  throne  was  occupied  by 
a weak  or  unwarlike  prince,  even  these  were  soon 
destroyed  or  forced  to  retreat  homewards.  Tiglath- 
Pileser  II,  however,  consolidated  and  organised  the 
conquests  he  made  ; turbulent  populations  were  deported 
from  their  old  homes,  and  the  empire  was  divided 
into  satrapies  or  provinces,  each  of  which  paid  a fixed 
annual  tribute  to  the  imperial  exchequer.  For  the 
first  time  in  history  the  principle  of  centralisation  was 
carried  out  on  a large  scale,  and  a bureaucracy  began 
to  take  the  place  of  the  old  feudal  nobility  of  Assyria. 
But  the  second  Assyrian  Empire  was  not  only  an 
organised  and  bureaucratic  one,  it  was  also  commercial. 
In  carrying  out  his  schemes  of  conquest  Tiglath- 
Pileser  II  was  influenced  by  considerations  of  trade. 
His  chief  object  was  to  divert  the  commerce  of  Western 
Asia  into  Assyrian  hands.  For  this  purpose  every 
effort  was  made  to  unite  Babylonia  with  Assyria,  to 
overthrow  the  Hittites  of  Carchemish,  who  held  the 
trade  of  Asia  Minor,  as  well  as  the  high  road  to  the 
west,  and  to  render  Syria  and  the  Phoenician  cities 
tributary.  The  policy  inaugurated  by  Tiglath-Pileser 
was  successfully  followed  up  by  his  successors. 

Babylonia  was  the  first  to  feel  the  results  of  the 
change  of  dynasty  at  Nineveh.  The  northern  part  of  it 
was  annexed  to  Assyria,  and  secured  by  a chain  of 


ASSYRIAN  HISTORY. 


35 


fortresses.  Tiglath-Pileser  now  attacked  the  Kurdish 
tribes,  who  were  constantly  harassing  the  eastern  frontier 
of  the  kingdom,  and  chastised  them  severely,  the 
Assyrian  army  forcing  its  way  through  the  fastnesses 
of  the  Kurdish  mountains  into  the  very  heart  of  Media. 
But  Ararat,  or  Armenia,  was  still  a dangerous  neighbour, 
and  accordingly  Tiglath-Pileser’s  next  campaign  was 
against  a confederacy  of  the  nations  of  the  north  headed 
by  Sarduris  of  Van.  The  confederacy  was  utterly 
defeated  in  Kommagene,  72,950'  prisoners  falling  into 
the  hands  of  the  Assyrians,  and  the  way  was  opened 
into  Syria.  In  B.C.  742  the  siege  of  Arpad  (now  Tel 
Erfad)  began,  and  lasted  two  years.  Its  fall  brought 
with  it  the  submission  of  Northern  Syria,  and  it  was  next 
the  turn  of  Hamath  to  be  attacked.  Hamath  was  in 
alliance  with  Uzziah  of  Judah,  and  its  king  Eniel  may 
have  been  of  Jewish  extraction.  But  the  alliance 
availed  nothing.  Hamath  was  taken  by  storm,  part  of 
its  population  transported  to  Armenia,  and  their  places 
taken  by  colonists  from  distant  provinces  of  the  empire, 
while  nineteen  of  the  districts  belonging  to  it  were 
annexed  to  Assyria.  The  kings  of  Syria  now  flocked 
to  render  homage  and  offer  tribute  to  the  Assyrian 
conqueror.  Among  them  we  read  the  names  of 
Menahem  of  Samaria,  Rezon  of  Syria,  Hiram  of  Tyre, 
and  Pisiris  of  Carchemish.  This  was  the  occasion  when, 
as  we  learn  from  2 Kings  xv.  19,  Menahem  gave  a 
thousand  talents  of  silver  to  the  Assyrian  king  Pul,  the 
name  under  which  Tiglath-Pileser  continued  to  be 


36  ASSYRIA  : ITS  PRINCES,  PRIESTS,  AND  PEOPLE. 

known  m Babylonia,  and,  as  the  Old  Testament  informs 
us,  in  Palestine  also. 

Three  years  later  Ararat  was  again  invaded.  Van, 
the  capital,  was  blockaded,  and  though  it  successfully 
resisted  the  Assyrians,  the  country  was  devastated  far 
and  near  for  a space  of  450  miles.  It  was  long  before 
the  Armenians  recovered  from  the  blow,  and  for  the  next 
century  they  ceased  to  be  formidable  to  Assyria. 
Tiglath-Pileser’s  northern  frontier  was  now  secure,  and 
he  therefore  gladly  seized  the  opportunity  of  interfering 
in  the  affairs  of  the  west  which  was  offered  him  by 
Ahaz,  the  Jewish  king.  Ahaz,  whom  the  Assyrian 
inscriptions  call  Jehoahaz,  had  been  hard  pressed  by 
Rezon  off  Damascus  and  Pekah  of  Israel,  who  had 
combined  to  overthrow  the  Davidic  dynasty  and  place 
a vassal  prince,  ‘the  son  of  Tabeal,’ on  the  throne  of 
Jerusalem.  Ahaz  in  his  extremity  called  in  the  aid  of 
Tiglath-Pileser,  offering  him  a heavy  bribe  and  acknow- 
ledging his  supremacy.  Tiglath-Pileser  accordingly 
marched  into  Syria  ; Rezon  was  utterly  defeated  in 
battle  and  then  besieged  in  Damascus,  to  which  he  had 
escaped.  Damascus  was  closely  invested  ; the  trees  in 
its  neighbourhood  were  cut  down the  districts  depen- 
dent on  it  were  ravaged,  and  forces  were  despatched 
to  punish  the  Israelites,  Ammonites,  Moabites,  and 
Philistines,  who  had  been  the  allies  of  Rezon,  Gilead 
and  Abel-beth-maachah  being  burnt,  and  the  tribes 
beyond  the  Jordan  carried  into  captivity.  The  Philistine 
cities  were  compelled  to  open  fheir  gates ; the  king  of 


ASSYRIAN  HISTORY. 


37 


Ashkelon  committed  suicide  in  order  not  to  fall  into 
the  hands  of  the  enemy,  and  Khanun  of  Gaza  fled  to 
Egypt.  At  last  in  B.C.  732,  after  a siege  of  two  years, 
Damascus  was  forced  by  famine  to  surrender.  Rezon 
was  slain,  Damascus  given  over  to  plunder  and  ruin,  and 
its  inhabitants  transported  to  Kir.  Syria  became  an 
Assyrian  province,  and  all  its  princes  were  summoned  to 
do  homage  to  the  conqueror,  while  Tyre  was  fined  150 
talents  of  gold,  or  about  ^400, 000.  Among  the  princes 
who  attended  the  levee  or  ‘durbar’  was  Ahaz,  and  it 
was  while  he  was  attending  it  that  he  saw  the  altar  of 
which  he  sent  a pattern  to  Urijah  the  priest  (2  Kings 
xvi.  10). 

All  that  now  remained  for  Tiglath-Pileser  to  do  was 
to  reduce  Babylonia  as  he  had  reduced  Syria.  In 
B.C.  731,  accordingly,  he  marched  again  into  Chaldaea. 
Ukin-ziru,  the  Babylonian  king,  was  slain,  Babylon  and 
other  great  cities  were  taken,  and  in  B.C.  7 29,  under  his 
original  name  of  Pul,  Tiglath-Pileser  assumed  the  title  of 
‘ king  of  Sumer  (Shinar)  and  Accad.’ 

He  lived  only  two  years  after  this,  and  died  in  B.C. 
727,  when  the  crown  was  seized  by  Elulaeos  of  Tinu, 
who  took  the  name  of  Shalmaneser  IV.  Shalmaneser’s 
short  reign  was  signalised  by  an  unsuccessful  attempt  to 
capture  Tyre,  and  by  the  beginning  of  a war  against  the 
kingdom  of  Israel.  But  the  siege  of  Samaria  was  hardly 
commenced  when  Shalmaneser  died,  or  was  murdered, 
in  B.C.  722,  and  was  succeeded  by  another  usurper  who 
assumed  the  name  of  Sargon,  one  of  the  most  famous  of 


38  ASSYRIA:  ITS  PRINCES,  PRIESTS,  AND  PEOPLE. 

the  early  Babylonian  kings.  Sargon  in  his  inscriptions 
claims  royal  descent,  but  the  claim  was  probably  without 
foundation.  He  proved  to  be  an  able  general,  though 
his  inscriptions  show  that  he  continued  to  the  last  to  be 
a rough  but  energetic  soldier  who  had  perhaps  risen 
from  the  ranks. 

Two  years  after  his  accession  (B.c.  720)  Samaria  was 
taken  and  placed  under  an  Assyrian  governor,  27,280  of 
its  leading  inhabitants  being  carried  captive  to  Gozan 
and  Media.  But  Sargon  soon  found  that  the  task  of 
cementing  and  completing  the  empire  founded  by 
Tiglath-Pileser  was  by  no  means  an  easy  one.  Baby- 
lonia had  broken  away  from  Assyria  on  the  news  of 
Shalmaneser’s  death,  and  had  submitted  itself  to 
Merodach-Baladan  the  hereditary  chieftain  of  Beth- 
Yagina  in  the  marshes  on  the  coast  of  the  Persian  Gulf. 
The  southern  portion  of  Sargon’s  dominions  was 
threatened  by  the  ancient  and  powerful  kingdom  of 
Elam  ; the  Kurdish  tribes  on  the  east  renewed  their 
depredations  ; while  the  Hittite  kingdom  of  Carchemish 
still  remained  unsubdued,  and  the  Syrian  conquests 
could  with  difficulty  be  retained.  In  fact,  a new  enemy 
appeared  in  this  part  of  the  empire  in  the  shape  of 
Egypt. 

Sargon’s  first  act,  therefore,  was  to  drive  the  Elamites 
back  to  their  own  country  with  considerable  loss.  He 
was  then  recalled  to  the  west  by  the  revolt  of  Hamath, 
where  Yahu-bihdi,  or  Ilu-bihdi,  whose  name  perhaps 
indicates  his  Jewish  parentage,  had  proclaimed  himself 


ASSYRIAN  HISTORY. 


39 


king,  and  persuaded  Arpad,  Damascus,  Samaria,  and 
other  cities  to  follow  his  standard.  But  the  revolt  was 
of  short  duration.  Hamath  was  burnt,  4,300  Assyrians 
being  sent  to  occupy  its  ruins,  and  Yahu-bihdi  was 
flayed  alive.  Sargon  next  marched  along  the  sea-coast 
to  the  cities  ©f  the  Philistines.  There  the  Egyptian 
army  was  routed  at  Raphia,  and  its  ally,  Khanun  of 
Gaza,  taken  captive. 

In  B.C.  717  all  was  ready  for  dealing  the  final  blow  at 
the  Hittite  power  in  Northern  Syria.  The  rich  trading 
city  of  Carchemish  was  stormed,  its  last  king,  Pisiris, 
fell  into  the  hands  of  the  Assyrians,  and  his  Moschian 
allies  were  forced  to  retreat  to  the  north.  The  plunder 
of  Carchemish  brought  eleven  talents  and  thirty  manehs 
of  gold  and  2,100  talents  of  silver  into  the  treasury  of 
Calah.  It  was  henceforth  placed  under  an  Assyrian 
satrap,  who  thus  held  in  his  hands  the  key  of  the  high 
road  and  the  caravan  trade  between  Eastern  and  Western 
Asia. 

But  Sargon  was  not  allowed  to  retain  possession  of 
Carchemish  without  a struggle.  Its  Hittite  inhabitants 
found  avengers  in  the  allied  populations  of  the  north,  in 
Meshech  and  Tubal,  in  Ararat  and  Minni.  The  struggle 
lasted  for  six  years,  but  in  the  end  Sargon  prevailed. 
Van  submitted,  its  king  Ursa,  the  leader  of  the  coalition 
against  Assyria,  committed  suicide,  Cilicia  and  the 
Tibareni  or  Tubal  were  placed  under  an  Assyrian 
governor,  and  the  city  of  Malatiyeh  was  razed  to  the 
ground.  In  B.C.  71 1,  Sargon  was  at  length  free  to 


40  ASSYRIA:  ITS  PRINCES,  PRIESTS,  AND  PEOPLE. 


turn  his  attention  to  the  west.  Here  affairs  wore  a 
threatening  aspect.  Merodach-Baladan,  foreseeing  that 
his  own  turn  would  come  as  soon  as  Sargon  had  firmly 
established  his  power  in  Northern  Syria,  had  despatched 
ambassadors  to  the  Mediterranean  states,  urging  them  to 
combine  with  him  against  the  common  foe.  We  read  in 
the  Bible  of  the  arrival  of  the  Babylonian  embassy  in 
Jerusalem,  and  of  the  rebuke  received  by  Hezekiah  for 
his  vainglory  in  displaying  to  the  strangers  the  resources 
of  his  kingdom.  In  spite  of  Isaiah’s  warning,  Hezekiah 
listened  to  the  persuasions  of  the  Babylonian  envoys, 
and  encouraged  by  the  promise  of  Egyptian  support 
along  with  Phoenicia,  Moab,  Edom,  and  the  Philistines, 
determined  to  defy  the  Assyrian  king. 

But  before  the  confederates  were  ready  to  act  in 
concert  Sargon  descended  upon  Palestine.  Phoenicia 
and  Judah  were  overrun,  Jerusalem  was  captured,  and 
Ashdod  burnt,  while  the  Egyptians  made  no  attempt  to 
help  their  friends.  This  siege  of  Ashdod  is  the  only 
occasion  on  which  the  name  of  Sargon  occurs  in  the 
Bible  (Isaiah  xx.  i).  As  soon  as  all  source  of  danger 
was  removed  in  the  west  Sargon  hurled  his  forces 
against  Babylonia.  Merodach-Baladan  had  made  every 
preparation  to  meet  the  coming  attack,  and  the  Elamite 
king  had  engaged  to  help  him.  But  the  Elamites  were 
again  compelled  to  fly  before  the  warriors  of  Assyria, 
and  Sargon  entered  Babylon  in  triumph  (b.C.  710). 
The  following  year  he  pursued  Merodach-Baladan  to 
his  ancestral  stronghold  in  the  marshes ; Beth- Vagina 


ASSYRIAN  HISTORY. 


41 


was  taken  by  storm,  and  its  unfortunate  defenders  were 
sent  in  chains  to  Nineveh.  Sargon  was  now  at  the 
height  of  his  power.  His  empire  was  a compact  and 
consolidated  whole,  reaching  from  the  Mediterranean  on 
the  west  to  the  mountains  of  Elam  on  the  east,  and  his 
solemn  coronation  at  Babylon  gave  a title  to  his  claim  to 
be  the  legitimate  successor  of  the  ancient  Sargon  of 
Accad.  The  old  kingdoms  of  Elam  and  Egypt  alone 
remained  to  threaten  the  newly-founded  empire,  which 
received  the  voluntary  homage  of  the  smaller  states  that 
lay  immediately  beyond  it.  Thus  the  sacred  island  of 
Dilvun  in  the  Persian  Gulf  submitted  itself  to  the  terrible 
conqueror,  and  the  Phoenicians  of  Kition  or  Chittim 
in  Cyprus  erected  a monumental  record  of  his  supre- 
macy. 

Sargon’s  end  was  consonant  with  his  whole  career. 
He  was  murdered  by  his  soldiers  in  his  new  city  of 
Dur-Sargon  or  Khorsabad,  on  the  12th  of  Ab  or  July, 
B.C.  705,  and  was  succeeded  by  his  son  Sennacherib. 
If  we  may  judge  from  Sennacherib’s  name,  which  means 
‘ the  Moon-god  has  increased  the  brothers,’  he  would 
not  have  been  Sargon’s  eldest  son.  In  any  case  he  had 
been  brought  up  in  the  purple,  and  displayed  none  of  the 
rugged  virtues  of  his  father.  He  was  weak,  boastful,  and 
cruel,  and  preserved  his  empire  only  by  the  help  of  the 
veterans  and  generals  whom  Sargon  had  trained. 

Merodach-Baladan  had  escaped  from  captivity,  and 
two  years  after  the  death  of  Sargon  had  once  more 
possessed  himself  of  Babylon.  But  a battle  at  Kis 


42  ASSYRIA:  ITS  PRINCES,  PRIESTS,  AND  PEOPLE. 

drove  him  from  the  country  nine  months  subsequently, 
and  Sennacherib  was  able  to  turn  his  attention  to  affairs 
in  the  west.  In  B.C.  701,  he  marched  into  Phoenicia  and 
Palestine,  where  Hezekiah  of  Judah  and  some  of  the 
neighbouring  kings  had  refused  their  tribute.  Tirhakah, 
the  Ethiopian  king  of  Egypt,  had  promised  support  to 
the  rebellious  states,  and  Padi,  the  king  of  Ekron,  who 
remained  faithful  to  the  Assyrians,  was  carried  in  chains 
to  Jerusalem.  The  Assyrian  army  fell  first  upon 
Phoenicia.  Great  and  Little  Sidon,  Sarepta,  Acre,  and 
other  towns,  surrendered,  Elulaeos,  the  Sidonian 
monarch,  fled  to  Cyprus,  and  the  kings  of  Arvad  and 
Gebal  offered  homage.  Metinti  of  Ashdod,  Pedael  of 
Ammon,  Chemosh-nadab  of  Moab,  and  Melech-ram 
of  Edom,  also  submitted.  Then,  says  Sennacherib : 
‘ Zedekiah,  king  of  Ashkelon,  who  had  not  submitted  to 
my  yoke,  himself,  the  gods  of  the  house  of  his  fathers, 
his  wife,  his  sons,  his  daughters,  and  his  brothers,  the 
seed  of  the  house  of  his  fathers,  I.  removed,  and  I sent 
him  to  Syria.  I set  over  the  men  of  Ashkelon  Sarluaari, 
the  son  of  Rukipti,  their  former  king,  and  I imposed 
upon  him  the  payment  of  tribute,  and  the  homage  due 
to  my  majesty,  and  he  became  a vassal.  In  the  course 
of  my  campaign  I approached  and  captured  Beth- 
Dagon,  Joppa,  Bene-berak,  and  Azur,  the  cities  of 
Zedekiah,  which  did  not  submit  at  once  to  my  yoke,  and 
I carried  away  their  spoil.  The  priests,  the  chief  men, 
and  the  common  people  of  Ekron  who  had  thrown  into 
chains  their  king  Padi  because  he  was  faithful  to  his 


ASSYRIAN  HISTORY. 


43 


oaths  to  Assyria,  and  had  given  him  up  to  Hezekiah, 
the  Jew,  who  imprisoned  him  like  an  enemy  in  a dark 
dungeon,  feared  in  their  hearts.  The  king  of  Egypt,  the 
bowmen,  the  chariots,  and  the  horses  of  the  king  of 
Ethiopia,  had  gathered  together  innumerable  forces,  and 
gone  to  their  assistance.  In  sight  of  the  town  of 
Eltekeh  was  their  order  of  battle  drawn  up  ; they  called 
their  troops  (to  the  battle).  Trusting  in  Assur,  my  lord, 
I fought  with  them  and  overthrew  them.  My  hands 
took  the  captains  of  the  chariots,  and  the  sons  of  the  king 
of  Egypt,  as  well  as  the  captains  of  the  chariots  of  the 
king  of  Ethiopia,  alive  in  the  midst  of  the  battle.  I 
approached  and  captured  the  towns  of  Eltekeh  and 
Timnath,  and  I carried  away  their  spoil.  I marched 
against  the  city  of  Ekron,  and  put  to  death  the  priests 
and  the  chief  men  who  had  committed  the  sin  (of 
rebellion),  and  I hung  up  their  bodies  on  stakes  all 
round  the  city.  The  citizens  who  had  done  wrong  and 
wickedness  I counted  as  a spoil ; as  for  the  rest  of  them 
who  had  done  no  sin  or  crime,  in  whom  no  fault  was 
found,  I proclaimed  a free  pardon.  I had  Padi,  their 
king,  brought  out  from  the  midst  of  Jerusalem,  and 
1 seated  him  on  the  throne  of  royalty  over  them,  and 
I laid  upon  him  the  tribute  due  to  my  majesty.  But 
as  for  Hezekiah  of  Judah,  who  had  not  submitted  to 
my  yoke,  forty-six  of  his  strong  cities,  together  with 
innumerable  fortresses  and  small  towns  which  depended 
on  them,  by  overthrowing  the  walls  and  open  attack,  by 
battle  engines  and  battering-rams,  I besieged,  I captured, 


44  ASSYRIA  : ITS  PRINCES,  PRIESTS,  AND  PEOPLE. 


I brought  out  from  the  midst  of  them  and  counted  as  a 
spoil  200,150  persons,  great  and  small,  male  and  female, 
horses,  mules,  asses,  camels,  oxen  and  sheep  without 
number.  Hezekiah  himself  I shut  up  like  a bird  in  a 
cage  in  Jerusalem,  his  royal  city.  I built  a line  of  forts 
against  him,  and  I kept  back  his  heel  from  going  forth 
out  of  the  great  gate  of  his  city.  I cut  off  his  cities  that 
I had  spoiled  from  the  midst  of  his  land,  and  gave  them 
to  Metinti,  king  of  Ashdod,  Padi,  king  of  Ekron,  and 
Zil-baal,  king  of  Gaza,  and  I made  his  country  small.  In 
addition  to  their  former  tribute  and  yearly  gifts,  I added 
other  tribute,  and  the  homage  due  to  my  majesty,  and 
I laid  it  upon  them.  The  fear  of  the  greatness  of  my 
majesty  overwhelmed  him,  even  Hezekiah,  and  he  sent 
after  me  to  Nineveh,  my  royal  city,  by  way  of  gift  and 
tribute,  the  Arabs  and  his  body-guard  whom  he  had 
brought  for  the  defence  of  Jerusalem,  his  royal  city,  and 
had  furnished  with  pay,  along  with  thirty  talents  of 
gold,  800  talents  of  pure  silver,  carbuncles  and  other 
precious  stones,  a couch  of  ivory,  thrones  of  ivory,  an 
elephant’s  hide,  an  elephant’s  tusk,  rare  woods  of  various 
names,  a vast  treasure,  as  well  as  the  eunuchs  of  his 
palace,  dancing-men  and  dancing-women  ; and  he  sent 
his  ambassador  to  offer  homage.’ 

In  this  account  of  his  campaign  Sennacherib  discreetly 
says  nothing  about  the  disaster  which  befell  his  army 
in  front  of  Jerusalem,  and  which  obliged  him  to  return 
ignominiously  to  Assyria  without  attempting  to  capture 
Jerusalem,  and  to  deal  with  Hezekiah  as  it  was  his 


ASSYRIAN  HISTORY. 


45 


custom  to  deal  with  other  rebellious  kings.  The  tribute 
offered  by  Hezekiah  at  Lachish,  when  he  vainly  tried  to 
buy  off  the  threatened  Assyrian  attack,  is  represented 
as  having  been  the  final  result  of  a successful  campaign. 
There  is,  however,  no  exaggeration  in  the  amount  of 
silver  Sennacherib  claims  to  have  received,  since  800 
talents  of  silver  are  equivalent  to  the  500  talents  stated  by 
the  Bible  to  have  been  given,  when  reckoned  according  to 
the  standard  of  value  in  use  at  the  time  in  Nineveh. 

Sennacherib  never  recovered  from  the  blow  he  had 
suffered  in  Judah.  He  made  no  more  expeditions 
against  Palestine,  and  during  the  rest  of  his  reign 
Judah  remained  unmolested.  Babylonia,  moreover, 
gave  him  constant  trouble.  In  the  year  after  his 
campaign  in  the  west  (B.G  700)  a Chaldean,  named 
Nergal-yusezib,  stirred  up  a revolt  which  Sennacherib 
had  some  difficulty  in  suppressing.  Two  years  later 
he  appointed  his  eldest  son,  Assur-nadin-sumi,  viceroy 
of  Babylon.  In  B.G  694,  he  determined  to  attack  the 
followers  of  Merodach-Baladan  in  their  last  retreat  at 
the  mouth  of  the  Eulaeus,  where  land  had  been  given 
to  them  by  the  Elamite  king  after  their  expulsion  from 
Babylonia.  Ships  were  built  and  manned  by  Phoenicians 
in  the  Persian  Gulf,  by  means  of  which  the  settlements 
of  the  Chaldean  refugees  were  burnt  and  destroyed. 
Meanwhile,  however,  Babylonia  itself  was  invaded  by 
the  Elamites  ; the  Assyrian  viceroy  was  carried  into 
captivity,  and  Nergal-yusezib  placed  on  the  throne  of 
the  country.  He  defeated  the  Assyrian  forces  in  a 


4 6 ASSYRIA:  ITS  PRINCES,  PRIESTS,  AND  PEOPLE. 

battle  near  Nipur,  but  died  soon  afterwards,  and  was 
followed  by  Musezib-Merodach,  who  like  his  pre- 
decessor is  called  Suzub  in  Sennacherib’s  inscriptions. 
He  defied  the  Assyrian  power  for  nearly  four  years. 
But  in  B.C.  690  the  combined  Babylonian  and  Elamite 
army  was  overthrown  in  the  decisive  battle  of  Khalule, 
and  before  another  year  was  past  Sennacherib  had 
captured  Babylon,  and  given  it  up  to  fire  and  sword. 
Its  inhabitants  were  sold  into  slavery,  and  the  waters 
of  the  A raxes  canal  allowed  to  flow  over  its  ruins. 
Sennacherib  now  assumed  the  title  of  king  of  Babylonia, 
but  with  the  exception  of  a campaign  into  the  Cilician 
mountains  he  seems  to  have  undertaken  no  more 
military  expeditions.  The  latter  years  of  his  life  were 
passed  in  constructing  canals  and  aqueducts,  in 
embanking  the  Tigris,  and  in  rebuilding  the  palace  of 
Nineveh  on  a new  and  sumptuous  scale.  On  the 
20th  of  Tebet,  or  December,  B.C.  681,  he  was  murdered 
by  his  two  elder  sons,  Adrammelech  and  Nergal-sharezer, 
who  were  jealous  of  the  favour  shown  to  their  younger 
brother,  Esar-haddon. 

Esar-haddon  was  at  the  time  conducting  a campaign 
against  Erimenas,  king  of  Armenia,  to  whom  his 
insurgent  brothers  naturally  fled.  Between  seven  and 
eight  weeks  after  the  murder  of  the  old  king,  a battle 
was  fought  near  Malatiyeh,  in  Kappadokia,  between 
the  veterans  of  Esar-haddon  and  the  forces  under  his 
brothers  and  Erimenas,  which  ended  in  the  complete 
defeat  of  the  latter.  Esar-haddon  was  proclaimed  king, 


ASSYRIAN  HISTORY. 


4 7 


and  the  event  proved  that  a wiser  choice  could  not  have 
been  made. 

His  military  genius  was  of  the  first  order,  but  it  was 
equalled  by  his  political  tact  He  was  the  only  king  of 
Assyria  who  endeavoured  to  conciliate  the  nations  he 
had  conquered.  Under  him  the  fabric  of  the  Second 
Empire  was  completed  by  the  conquest  of  Egypt.  In  the 
first  year  of  his  reign  he  rebuilt  Babylon,  giving  it  back  its 
captured  deities,  its  plunder,  and  its  people.  Henceforth 
Babylon  became  the  second  capital  of  the  empire,  the 
court  residing  alternately  there  and  at  Nineveh.  It  was 
while  Esar-haddon  was  holding  his  winter  court  at 
Babylon  that  Manasseh,  of  Judah,  was  brought  to  him 
as  prisoner.1 

The  trade  of  Phoenicia  was  diverted  into  Assyrian 
hands  by  the  destruction  of  Sidon.  The  caravan-road 
from  east  to  west  was  at  the  same  time  rendered  secure 
by  an  expedition  into  the  heart  of  Northern  Arabia. 
Here  Esar-haddon  penetrated  as , far  as  the  lands  of 
Huz  and  Buz,  280  miles  of  the  march  being  through 
a waterless  desert.  The  feat  has  never  been  excelled, 
and  the  terror  it  inspired  among  the  Bedouin  tribes  was 
not  forgotten  for  many  years.  The  northern  frontiers 
of  the  kingdom  were  also  made  safe  by  the  defeat  of 
Teispes,  the  Kimmerian,  who  was  driven  westward  with 
his  hordes  into  Asia  Minor.  In  the  east  the  Assyrian 
monarch  was  bold  enough  to  occupy  and  work  the 
copper-mines  on  the  distant  borders  of  Media,  the  very 

l2  Chr.  xxxiii,  li. 


48  ASSYRIA:  ITS  PRINCES,  PRIESTS,  AND  PEOPLE. 

name  of  which  had  scarcely  been  heard  of  before. 
Westward,  the  kings  of  Cyprus  paid  homage  to  the 
great  conqueror,  and  among  the  princes  who  sent 
materials  for  his  palace  at  Nineveh  were  Cyprian  rulers 
with  Greek  names. 

But  the  principal  achievement  of  Esar-haddon’s  reign 
was  his  conquest  of  the  ancient  monarchy  of  Egypt. 
In  B.C.  675  the  Assyrian  army  started  for  the  banks  of 
the  Nile.  Four  years  later  Memphis  was  taken  on  the 
22nd  of  Tammuz,  or  June,  and  Tirhakah,  the  Egyptian 
king,  compelled  to  fly  first  to  Thebes,  and  then  into 
Ethiopia.  Egypt  was  divided  into  twenty  satrapies, 
governed  partly  by  Assyrians,  partly  by  native  princes, 
whose  conduct  was  watched  by  Assyrian  garrisons.  On 
his  return  to  Assyria  Esar-haddon  associated  Assur- 
bani-pal,  the  eldest  of  his  four  sons,  in  the  government 
on  the  1 2th  of  Iyyar,  or  April,  B.C.  669,  and  died  two 
years  afterwards  (on  the  12th  of  Marchesvan,  or 
October),  when  again  on  his  way  to  Egypt.  Assur- 
bani-pal,  the  Sardanapalos  of  the  Greeks,  succeeded 
to  the  empire,  his  brother,  Samas-sum-yukin,  being 
entrusted  with  the  government  of  Babylonia. 

Assur-bani-pal  is  probably  the  ‘ great  and  noble  ’ 
Asnapper  of  Ezra  iv.  10.  He  was  luxurious,  ambitious, 
and  cruel,  but  a munificent  patron  of  literature.  The 
libraries  of  Babylonia  were  ransacked  for  ancient  texts, 
and  scribes  were  kept  busily  employed  at  Nineveh  in 
inscribing  new  editions  of  older  works.  But  unlike  his 
fathers,  Assur-bani-pal  refused  to  face  the  hardships  of 


D 


Assur-bani-pal  and  his  Queen. 
{From  the  original  in  the  British  Museum.) 


ASSYRIAN  HISTORY. 


51 


a campaign.  His  armies  were  led  by  generals,  who  were 
required  to  send  despatches  from  time  to  time  to  the 
king.  It  was  evident  that  a purely  military  empire,  like 
that  of  Assyria,  could  not  last  long,  when  its  ruler  had 
himself  ceased  to  take  an  active  part  in  military  affairs. 
At  first  the  veterans  of  his  father  preserved  and  even 
extended  the  empire  of  Assur-bani-pal ; but  before  his 
death  it  was  shattered  irretrievably.  It  is  characteristic 
of  Assur-bani-pal  that  his  lion-hunts  were  mere  battues , 
in  which  tame  animals  were  released  from  cages  and 
lashed  to  make  them  run  ; in  curious  contrast  to  the 
lion-hunts  in  the  open  field  in  which  his  warlike  prede- 
cessors had  delighted. 

His  first  occupation  was  to  crush  a revolt  in  Egypt. 
Tirhakah  was  once  more  driven  out  of  the  country,  and 
Thebes,  called  Ni  in  the  Assyrian  texts,  and  No-Amon, 
or  ‘No  of  the  god  Amun  ’ in  Scripture,  was  plundered 
and  destroyed.  Its  temples  were  hewed  in  pieces,  and 
two  of  its  obelisks,  weighing  70  tons  in  all,  were  carried 
as  trophies  to  Nineveh.  It  is  to  this  destruction  of  the 
old  capital  of  the  Pharaohs  that  Nahum  refers  in  his 
prophecy  (iii.  8). 

Meanwhile  Tyre  had  been  besieged  and  forced  to 
surrender,  and  Cilicia  had  paid  homage  to  the  Assyrian 
king.  Gog,  or  Gyges,  of  Lydia,  too,  voluntarily  sent 
him  tribute,  including  two  Kimmerian  chieftains  whom 
the  Lydian  sovereign  had  captured  in  battle.  When 
the  Lydian  ambassadors  arrived  in  Nineveh  they  found 
no  one  who  could  understand  their  language  ; in  fact, 

D 2 


52  ASSYRIA:  ITS  PRINCES,  PRIESTS,  AND  PEOPLE. 


the  very  name  of  Lydia  had  been  unknown  to  the 
Assyrians  before. 

The  Assyrian  Empire  had  now  reached  its  widest 
limits.  Elam  had  fallen  after  a long  and  arduous 
struggle.  Shushan,  its  capital,  was  razed  to  the  ground, 
and  the  three  last  Elamite  kings  were  bound  to  the  yoke 
of  Assur-bani-pal’s  chariot,  and  made  to  drag  their  con- 
queror through  the  streets  of  Nineveh.  The  Kedarites 
and  other  nomad  tribes  of  Northern  Arabia  were  also 
chastised,  the  land  of  the  Minni  was  overrun,  and  the 
Armenians  of  Van  begged  for  an  alliance  with  the 
Assyrian  king. 

But  while  at  the  very  height  of  his  prosperity,  the 
empire  was  fast  slipping  away  from  under  Assur-bani- 
pal’s  feet.  In  B.C.  652  a rebellion  broke  out  headed 
by  his  brother,  the  Babylonian  viceroy,  which  shook  it 
to  the  foundations.  Babylonia,  Egypt,  Palestine,  and 
Arabia  made  common  cause  against  the  oppressor. 
Lydia  sent  Karian  and  Ionic  mercenaries  to  Psam- 
metikhos  of  Sais,  with  whose  help  he  succeeded  in  over- 
throwing his  brother  satraps,  and  in  delivering  Egypt 
from  the  Assyrian  yoke.  The  revolt  in  Babylonia  took 
long  to  quell,  and  for  a time  the  safety  of  Assur-bani-pal 
himself  was  imperilled.  At  last  in  647  Babylon  and 
Cuthah  were  reduced  by  famine,  and  Samas-sum-yukin 
burnt  himself  to  death  in  his  palace.  Fire  and  sword 
were  carried  through  Elam,  and  the  last  of  its  monarchs 
became  an  outlawed  fugitive. 


ASSYRIAN  HISTORY. 


53 


When  Assyria  finally  emerged  from  the  deadly 
struggle,  Egypt  was  lost  to  it  for  ever,  and  Babylonia 
was  but  half  subdued.  The  latter  province  was  placed 
under  the  government  of  Kandalanu,  who  ruled  over  it 
for  twenty-two  years,  more  like  an  independent  sovereign 
than  a viceroy.  His  successor,  Nabopolassar,  the  father 
of  Nebuchadnezzar,  threw  off  all  semblance  of  submis-  ' 
sion  to  Nineveh,  and  prepared  the  way  for  the  empire 
of  his  son.  But  meanwhile  the  once  proud  kingdom 
of  Assyria  had  been  contending  for  bare  existence. 
Assur-bani-pal’s  son,  Assur-etil-ilani,  rebuilt  with  dimi- 
nished splendour  the  palace  of  Calah,  which  seems  to 
have  been  burnt  by  some  victorious  enemy  ; and  when 
the  last  Assyrian  king,  Esar-haddon  II,  called  Sarakos 
by  the  Greeks,  mounted  the  throne,  he  found  himself 
surrounded  on  all  sides  by  threatening  foes.  Kaztarit  or 
Kyaxares,  Mamitarsu  the  Median,  the  Kimmerians,  the 
Minni,  and  the  people  of  Sepharad  leagued  themselves 
together  against  the  devoted  city  of  Nineveh.  The 
frontier  towns  fell  first,  and  though  Esar-haddon  in 
his  despair  proclaimed  public  fasts  and  prayers  to  the 
gods,  nothing  could  ward  off  the  doom  pronounced  by 
God’s  prophets  against  Nineveh  so  long  before. 
Nineveh  was  besieged,  captured,  and  utterly  destroyed  ; 
and  the  second  Assyrian  Empire  perished  more  hope- 
lessly and  completely  than  the  first.  All  that  survived 
was  the  old  capital  of  the  country,  Assur,  whose  former 
inhabitants  were  allowed  to  return  to  it  by  Cyrus  at  the 


54  ASSYRIA:  ITS  PRINCES,  PRIESTS,  AND  PEOPLE. 


time  when  the  Jewish  exiles  also  were  released  from 
their  captivity  in  Babylon.1 

1 The  following  are  the  significations  of  the  different  Assyrian  royal 
names  mentioned  in  this  chapter  : — 

Rimmon-nirari,  ‘ Rimmon  (the  Air-god)  is  my  help.’ 

Shalmaneser  (Sallimanu-esir),  * Sallimanu  (Solomon,  ‘ the  god  of  peace) 
directs.’  The  Babylonians  changed  the  name  to  Sulman-asarid, 
‘ Solomon  is  supreme.’ 

Tiglath-Pileser  (Tukulti-pal-E-Sara),  ‘The  servant  of  (the  god  Adar.) 

the  son  of  E-’Sara  (the  temple  of  legions).’ 

Assur-d&n,  ‘ Assur  is  strong.’ 

Assur-natsir-pal,  ‘ Assur  is  protector  of  the  son.’ 

Samas-Rimmon,  ‘The  Sun-god  is  also  Rimmon  (the  Air-god).’ 

Sargon  (Sarru-kunu),  ‘the  constituted  king.’ 

Sennacherib  (Sinu-akhi-erba),  ‘ The  Moon-god  increased  the  brethren.* 
Esar-haddon  (Assur-akh-iddina),  ‘ Assur  gave  a brother.’ 

Assur-bani-pal,  ‘ Assur  is  creator  of  the  son.’ 

Assur -etil-ilani,  ‘ Assur  is  prince  of  the  gods.’ 


55 


CHAPTER  III. 

Assyrian  Religion. 

The  Assyrians  derived  the  greater  part  of  their  deities 
and  religious  beliefs,  like  their  literature  and  culture 
generally,  from  Babylonia.  The  Babylonian  gods  were 
the  gods  of  Assyria  also.  Most  of  them  were  of 
Accadian  or  prae-Semitic  origin,  but  the  Semitic  Baby- 
lonians, when  they  appropriated  the  civilisation  of  the 
Accadians,  modified  them  in  accordance  with  their  own 
conceptions.  The  Accadians  believed  that  every  object 
and  phenomenon  of  nature  had  its  Zi  or  ‘ spirit/  some 
of  them  beneficent,  others  hostile  to  man,  like  the  objects 
and  phenomena  they  represented.  Naturally,  however, 
there  were  more  malevolent  than  beneficent  spirits  in  the 
universe,  and  there  was  scarcely  an  action  which  did  not 
risk  demoniac  possession.  Diseases  were  due  to  the 
malevolence  of  these  spirits,  and  could  be  cured  only  by 
the  use  of  certain  charms  and  exorcisms.  Exorcisms,  in 
fact,  gave  those  who  employed  them  power  over  the 
spirits  ; they  could  by  means  of  them  compel  the  evil 
spirit  to  retire,  and  the  beneficent  spirit  to  approach. 
The  knowledge  of  such  exorcisms  was  in  the  hands  of 
the  priests,  so  that  priest  and  magician  were  almost 
synonymous  terms. 


56  ASSYRIA:  ITS  PRINCES,  PRIESTS,  AND  PEOPLE. 

Among  the  multitude  of  spirits  feared  by  the 
Accadians,  there  were  some  which  had  been  raised 
above  the  rest  into  the  position  of  gods.  Of  these,  Anu, 
‘ the  sky  ; ’ Mul-ge,  ‘ the  earth  ; ’ and  Ea,  ‘ the  deep/ 
were  the  most  conspicuous.  At  their  side  stood  the 
‘ spirits  * of  the  heavenly  bodies — the  Moon-god,  the 
Sun-god,  the  evening  star,  and  the  other  planets.  The 
Moon-god  ranked  before  the  Sun-god,  as  might  indeed 
have  been  expected  to  be  the  case  among  a nation  of 
astronomers  like  the  Chaldeans. 

When  the  Semitic  Babylonians  adopted  the  deities  of 
their  predecessors  and  teachers,  Anu  and  his  compeers 
lost  much  of  their  elemental  nature,  while  the  Sun-god 
Samas  came  to  assume  an  important  place.  The  religion 
of  the  Babylonian  Semites,  in  fact,  was  essentially  solar  ; 
the  Sun-god  was  addressed  as  Bel  or  Baal,  the  supreme 
‘lord/  and  adored  under  various  forms.  He  appeared 
to  them,  moreover,  under  two  aspects,  sometimes  as  the 
kindly  deity  who  gives  life  and  light  to  all  things, 
sometimes  as  the  scorching  sun  of  summer  who 
demanded  the  sacrifice  of  the  first-born  to  appease  his 
wrath.  Sometimes,  again,  he  was  worshipped  as  the 
young  and  beautiful  Tammuz,  slain  by  the  boar’s  tusk 
of  winter  ; whose  death  was  lamented  at  the  autumnal 
equinox,  and  who  was  invoked  as  adoni  {Adonis)  or 
‘ master/ 

Unlike  the  Accadians,  who  did  not  distinguish 
gender,  the  Semites  divided  all  nouns  into  masculines 
and  feminines.  By  the  side  of  the  god,  consequently, 


ASSYRIAN  RELIGION. 


57 


stood  the  goddess.  She  was,  however,  but  a pale 
reflection  of  her  male  consort,  created,  so  to  speak,  by 
the  necessities  of  grammar.  She  had  no  independent 
attributes  of  her  own  ; Beltis,  or  Bilat,  the  wife  of  Bel, 
was  nothing  more  than  the  feminine  complement  of  the 
god.  The  Accadians  had  known  of  one  great  goddess, 
Istar,  the  evening  star  ; but  Istar  was  an  independent 
deity,  with  attributes  as  strongly  and  individually 
marked  as  those  of  the  gods.  Among  the  Semites, 
Istar  became  Ashtoreth,  with  the  feminine  sufflx  th . 
and  though  in  Babylonia  the  old  legends  and  traditions 
prevented  her  from  losing  altogether  her  primitive 
character,  she  tended  more  and  more  to  pass  into  the 
mere  reflection  of  some  male  deity.  Just  as  the  gods 
could  be  collectively  spoken  of  as  Baalim  or  ‘ lords,’  all 
being  regarded  as  so  many  different  forms  of  the  Sun- 
god,  the  goddesses  also  were  termed  Ashtaroth  or 
‘ Ashtoreths.’ 

We  see,  therefore,  that  in  adopting  the  pantheon  of 
Accad,  the  Semites  made  three  important  changes.  The 
Sun-god  was  assigned  a leading  place  in  worship  and 
belief ; female  deities  were  introduced,  who  were,  how- 
ever, mere  reflections  of  the  gods  ; while  the  inferior 
deities  of  the  Accadians  were  classed  among  * the  300 
spirits  of  heaven  ’ and  * the  600  spirits  of  earth,’  only  a 
few  of  the  more  prominent  ones  retaining  their  old 
position.  These  latter  may  be  grouped  as  follows  : — 

At  the  head  of  the  divine  hierarchy  still  stood  the  old 
triad  of  Anu,  Mul-ge,  and  Ea.  Mul-ge’s  name,  however, 


58  ASSYRIA:  ITS  PRINCES,  PRIESTS,  AND  PEOPLE. 

was  changed  to  Bel,  but  since  Merodach  was  also  known 
as  Bel,  he  fell  more  and  more  into  the  background, 
especially  after  the  rise  of  Babylon,  of  which  city 
Merodach  was  the  patron  deity.  At  Nipur,  now  Niffer, 
alone,  he  continued  to  be  worshipped  down  into  late 
times.  His  consort  was  Bilat,  or  Beltis,  ‘the  great  lady/ 
who  eventually  came  to  be  regarded  as  the  wife  of 
Merodach  rather  than  of  ‘ the  other  Bel.’  Like  Anu  and 
Ea,  Bel  was  the  offspring  of  Sar  and  Kisar,  the  upper 
and  lower  firmaments. 

Anu  was  the  visible  sky,  but  he  also  represented  the 
invisible  heaven,  which  was  supposed  to  extend  above 
the  visible  one,  and  to  be  the  abode  of  the  gods.  The 
chief  seat  of  his  worship  was  Erech,  where  he  was 
regarded  as  the  oldest  of  the  gods,  and  the  original 
creator  of  the  universe.  But  elsewhere,  also,  he  was 
looked  upon  as  the  creator  of  the  visible  world,  and  the 
father  of  the  gods.  By  his  side,  in  the  Semitic  period, 
stood  the  goddess  Anat,  whose  attributes  were  derived 
from  his.  The  worship  of  Anat  spread  from  Babylonia 
to  the  Canaanites,  as  is  shown  by  the  geographical 
names  Beth  Anath,  ‘the  temple  of  Anat’  (Josh.  xix.  38  ; 
xv.  59),  and  Anathoth,  the  city  of  ‘ the  goddesses  Anat.’ 
It  was  even  introduced  into  Egypt  after  the  Asiatic 
wars  of  the  eighteenth  dynasty.  In  the  prae-Semitic  days 
of  Chaldea,  a monotheistic  school  had  flourished,  which 
resolved  the  various  deities  of  the  Accadian  belief  into 
manifestations  of  the  one  supreme  god,  Anu  ; and  old 
hymns  exist  in  which  reference  is  made  to  ‘the  one 


ASSYRIAN  RELIGION. 


59 


god.’  But  this  school  never  seems  to  have  numbered 
many  adherents,  and  it  eventually  died  out.  Its  exist- 
ence, however,  reminds  us  of  the  fact  that  Abraham  was 
born  in  ‘ Ur  of  the  Chaldees/ 

Ea  originally  represented  the  ocean-stream  or  ‘ great 
deep,’  which  was  supposed  to  surround  the  earth  like  a 
serpent,  and  by  which  all  rivers  and  springs  were  fed. 
He  was  symbolised  by  the  snake,  and  was  held  to  be 
the  creator  and  benefactor  of  mankind.  One  of  his 
most  frequent  titles  is  ‘ lord  of  wisdom/  and  the  chief 
seat  of  his  worship  was  at  Eridu,  ‘ the  holy  city/  near 
which  was  the  sacred  grove  or  * garden/  the  centre  of  the 
world,  where  the  tree  of  life  and  knowledge  had  its  roots. 
It  was  Ea  who  had  given  to  mankind  not  only  life,  but 
all  the  arts  and  appliances  of  culture  also,  and  it  was  his 
help  that  the  Babylonian  invoked  when  in  trouble.  He 
was  emphatically  the  god  of  healing,  who  had  revealed 
medicines  to  mankind.  As  god  of  the  great  deep,  he 
was  often  figured  as  a man  with  the  tail  of  a fish,  and  in 
this  form  was  known  to  the  Greeks  under  the  name  of 
Oannes  or  ‘ Ea  the  fish/  Sometimes  the  skin  of  a fish 
was  suspended  behind  his  back.  Oannes,  it  was  said, 
had  in  early  days  ascended  out  of  the  Persian  Gulf,  and 
taught  the  first  inhabitants  of  Babylonia  letters,  science, 
and  art,  besides  writing  a history  of  the  origin  of  man- 
kind and  their  different  ways  of  life.  His  wife  was 
Dav-kina,  ‘the  lady  of  the  earth/  who  presided  over 
the  lower  world. 

Among  the  numerous  offspring  of  Ea  and  Dav-kina, 


66  ASSYRIA:  ITS  PRINCES,  PRIESTS^  AND  PEOPLE. 

Merodach  held  the  foremost  place.  He  was  originally  a 
form  of  the  Sun-god,  regarded  under  his  beneficent 
aspect,  and  was  believed  to  be  ever  engaged  in  combating 
the  powers  of  evil,  and  in  performing  services  for  man- 
kind. Hence  he  is  addressed  as  ‘ the  redeemer  of 
mankind/  ‘ the  restorer  to  life,’  and  the  ‘ raiser  from  the 
dead/  and  a considerable  number  of  the  religious  hymns 
are  dedicated  to  him.  He  was  believed  to  be  continually 
passing  backwards  and  forwards  between  the  earth  and 
the  heaven  where  Ea  dwelt,  informing  Ea  of  the  suffer- 
ings of  men,  and  returning  with  Ea’s  directions  how  to 
relieve  them.  One  of  the  bas-reliefs  from  Nineveh,  now 
in  the  British  Museum,  represents  him  as  pursuing  with 
his  curved  sword  or  thunderbolt  the  demon  Tiamat,  the 
personification  of  chaos  and  anarchy,  who  is  depicted 
with  claws,  tail,  and  horns.  As  we  have  already  seen, 
he  was  commonly  addressed  as  Bel  or  ‘ lord/  and  so 
came  gradually  to  supplant  the  older  Bel  or  Mul-ge. 
Among  the  planets  his  star  was  Jupiter.  His  wife  was 
Zarpanit  or  Zirat-panitu,  in  whom  some  scholars  have 
seen  the  Succoth-benoth  of  2 Kings  xvii.  30. 

The  children  of  Merodach  and  Zarpanit  were  Nebo, 
‘the  prophet/ and  his  wife  Tasmit,  ‘the  hearer/  Nebo 
was  the  god  of  oratory  and  literature ; it  was  he  who 
‘ enlightened  the  eyes  ’ to  understand  written  characters, 
while  his  wife  ‘enlarged  the  ears/  so  that  they  could 
comprehend  what  was  read.  The  origin  of  the  cuneiform 
system  of  writing  was  ascribed  to  Nebo.  To  him  was 
dedicated  ‘ the  temple  of  the  Seven  Lights  of  Heaven 


ASSYRIAN  RELIGION. 


.6 1 

and  Earth,’  at  Borsippa,  the  suburb  of  Babylon,  which  is 
now  known  to  the  Arabs  as  the  Birs-i-Nimrud,  and  his 
worship  was  carried  as  far  as  Canaan,  as  we  may  gather 
from  such  names  as  the  city  of  Nebo,  in  Judaea  (Ezra  ii. 
29),  and  Mount  Nebo,  in  Moab  (Deut.  xxxii.  49).  In 
Accadian  he  had  been  called  Dimsar,  ‘ the  tablet-writer,’ 
and  a temple  was  erected  to  him  in  the  island  of 
Bahrein,  in  the  Persian  Gulf,  where  he  was  worshipped 
under  the  name  of  Enzak.  As  a planetary  deity,  he  was 
identified  with  Mercury.  He  was  often  adored  under 
the  name  of  Nusku,  although  Nusku  had  originally  been 
a separate  divinity,  and  the  same,  perhaps,  as  the 
Nisroch  of  the  Bible  (2  Kings  xix.  37). 

The  companion  of  Merodach  was  Rimmon,  or  rather 
Ramman,  ‘ the  thunderer.’  He  represented  the  atmo- 
sphere, and  was  accordingly  the  god  of  rain  and  storm, 
who  was  armed  with  the  lightning  and  the  thunderbolt. 
Sometimes  he  was  dreaded  as  ‘ the  destroyer  of  crops,’ 

‘ the  scatterer  of  the  harvest at  other  times  prayers 
were  made  to  him  as  ‘the  lord  of  fecundity.’  His 
worship  extended  into  Syria,  where  Rimmon  appears  to 
have  been  the  supreme  deity  of  Damascus,  and  where  he 
was  also  known  under  the  name  of  Hadad  or  Dadda. 

Two  other  elemental  gods  were  Samas,  the  Sun-god, 
and  Sin,  the  Moon-god.  Samas  was  the  son  of  Sin,  in 
accordance  with  the  astronomical  view  of  the  old 
Babylonians,  which  made  the  moon  the  measurer  of 
time,  and  regarded  the  day  as  the  offspring  of  night. 
Samas,  however,  like  Saul  or  Savul,  another  deity  of 


62  ASSYRIA:  ITS  PRINCES,  PRIESTS,  AND  PEOPLE. 

whom  mention  is  made  in  the  inscriptions,  was  really 
but  a form  of  Merodach,  though  in  historical  times  the 
two  divinities  were  separated  from  one  another,  and 
received  different  cults.  Samas,  again,  was  originally 
identical  with  Tammuz  ; but  when  Tammuz  came  to 
denote  only  the  sun  of  spring  and  summer,  while  the 
myth  that  associated  him  with  Istar  laid  firm  hold 
of  men’s  minds,  Tammuz  assumed  separate  attributes, 
and  an  individual  existence  apart  from  Samas. 

Sin,  the  Moon-god,  was  termed  Agu  or  Acu  by  the 
Accadians,  and  if  the  name  of  Mount  Sinai  was  derived 
from  him,  as  is  sometimes  supposed,  we  should  have 
evidence  that  he  was  known  and  worshipped  in  Northern 
Arabia.  At  all  events  he  was  one  of  the  deities  of 
Southern  Arabia.  Sin  was  the  patron-god  of  the  city  of 
Ur,  and  it  was  to  him  that  the  Assyrian  kings  traced 
the  formation  of  their  kingdom.  One  of  the  most  famous 
of  his  temples  was  in  the  ancient  city  of  Harran,  where 
he  was  symbolised  by  an  upright  cone  of  stone.  As  the 
emblem  of  the  Sun-god  was  the  solar  orb,  the  emblem 
of  Sin  was  the  crescent  moon. 

According  to  some  of  the  legends  of  Babylonia,  the 
daughter  of  the  Moon-god  was  the  goddess  Istar.  Other 
legends,  however,  placed  Istar  among  the  older  gods, 
and  made  her  the  daughter  of  Anu,  the  sky.  In  either 
case  she  was  at  the  outset  the  goddess  of  the  evening 
star,  and  when  it  was  discovered  that  the  evening  and 
morning  stars  were  the  same,  of  the  morning  star  also. 
As  the  evening  star,  she  was  known  as  Istar  of  Erech,  as 


ASSYRIAN  RELIGION. 


63 


the  morning  star,  she  was  identified  with  Anunit  or 
Anat,  the  goddess  of  Accad.  At  times  she  was  also 
regarded  as  androgynous,  both  male  and  female. 

Istar  was  the  chief  of  the  Accadian  goddesses,  and  she 
retained  her  rank  even  among  the  Semites,  who,  as  we 
have  seen,  looked  upon  the  goddess  as  the  mere  consort 
and  shadow  of  the  god.  But  Istar  continued  to  the  last 
a separate  and  independent  divinity.  She  presided  over 
love  and  war,  as  well  as  over  the  chase.  She  was 
invoked  as  * the  queen  of  heaven,’  ‘the  queen  of  all  the 
gods,’  and  there  was  often  a tendency  to  merge  in  her 
the  other  goddesses  of  the  pantheon.  Her  principal 
temples  were  at  Erech,  Nineveh,  and  Arbela,  but  altars 
were  erected  to  her  in  almost  every  place,  and  she  was 
adored  under  as  many  forms  and  titles  as  she  possessed 
shrines.  Her  name  and  worship  spread  through  the 
Semitic  world,  in  Southern  Arabia,  in  Syria,  in  Moab, 
where  she  was  identified  with  the  Sun-god,  Chemosh, 
and  in  Canaan,  where  she  was  called  Ashtoreth,  the 
Astarte  of  the  Greeks.  But  the  Greeks  also  knew  her  as 
Aphrodite,  the  goddess  whom  they  had  borrowed  from 
the  Phoenicians  of  Canaan,  and  we  may  discover  her 
again  in  the  Ephesian  Artemis.  The  rites  performed  in 
her  temples  made  Istar  or  Ashtoreth  the  darkest  blot 
in  Assyrian  and  Canaanitish  religion,  and  excited  the 
utmost  horror  and  indignation  of  the  prophets  of  God. 
When  the  moon  came  to  be  conceived  as  a female 
divinity,  the  pale  reflection,  as  it  were,  of  the  sun,  Istar, 
the  evening  star,  became  also  the  goddess  of  the  moon. 


64  ASSYRIA:  ITS  PRINCES,  PRIESTS,  AND  PEOPLE. 

Hence  it  is  that  ‘the  queen  of  heaven’  (Jer.  xliv.  17) 
passed  into  Astarte  ‘ with  crescent  horns.’ 

One  of  the  most  popular  of  old  Babylonian  myths  told 
how  Istar  had  wedded  the  young  and  beautiful  Sun-god, 
Tammuz,  ‘the  only-begotten,’  and  had  descended  into 
Hades  in  search  of  him  when  he  had  been  slain  by  the 
boar’s  tusk  of  winter.  A portion  of  a Babylonian  poem 
has  been  preserved  to  us,  which  describes  her  passage 
through  the  seven  gates  of  the  underworld,  where  she 
left  with  the  warden  of  each  some  one  of  her  adornments, 
until  at  last  she  reached  the  seat  of  the  infernal  goddess 
Ailat,  stripped  and  bare.  There  she  remained  imprisoned 
until  the  gods,  wearied  of  the  long  absence  of  the  goddess 
of  love,  created  a hound  called  ‘ the  renewal  of  light/ 
who  restored  her  to  the  upper  world.  The  myth  clearly 
refers  to  the  waning  and  waxing  of  the  monthly  moon, 
and  must  therefore  have  originated  when  Istar  had 
already  become  the  goddess  of  the  moon.  The  myth 
entered  deeply  into  the  religious  belief  of  the  worshippers 
of  Istar.  The  Accadians  called  the  month  of  August 
‘the  month  of  the  errand  of  Istar,’  while  June  was 
termed  ‘the  month  of  Tammuz’  by  the  Semites.  It  was 
then  that,  as  Milton  writes,  his 

‘annual  wound  in  Lebanon  allured 
The  Syrian  damsels  to  lament  his  fate 
In  amorous  ditties  all  a summer’s  day ; 

While  smooth  Adonis  from  his  native  rock 
Ran  purple  to  the  sea,  supposed  with  blood 
Of  Tammuz  yearly  wounded.’ 


ASSYRIAN  RELIGION. 


65 


But  it  was  not  only  in  Assyria  and  Phoenicia  that  the 
death  of  Tammuz  was  lamented  by  the  women  year  by 
year.  The  infection  spread  to  Judah  also,  and  even  in 
Jerusalem,  within  the  precincts  of  the  temple  itself, 
Ezekiel  saw  ‘women  weeping  for  Tammuz’  (Ezek. 
viii.  14). 


Nergal. 

C From  the  original  in  the  British  Museum .) 


There  are  only  two  other  Assyro-Babylonian  deities 
who  need  be  mentioned,  Nergal  and  Adar.  Nergal  was 
the  presiding  deity  of  Cuthah  and  its  vast  necropolis.1 
He  shared  with  Anu  the  privilege  of  superintending  the 
regions  of  the  dead,,  and  he  was  also  a god  of  hunting 
and  war.  His  name,  like  those  of  Anu,  Ea,  and  Istar, 

1 Confer  2 Kings  xvii.  30* 


66  ASSYRIA:  ITS  PRINCES,  PRIESTS,  AND  PEOPLE. 

was  of  Accadian  origin.  Adar,  the  son  of  Beltis,  was  one 
of  those  solar  deities  who  were  formed  by  worshipping 
the  Sun-god  under  some  particular  attribute.  The 
reading  of  his  name  is,  unfortunately,  not  certain,  and 
Adar  is  only  its  most  probable  pronunciation.  If  it  is 
correct,  Adar  will  be  the  deity  meant  in  2 Kings  xvii. 
31,  where  it  is  stated  that  the  people  of  Sepharvaim,  or 
the  two  Sipparas,  burnt  their  children  in  fire  to  Adram- 
melech  and  Anammelech,  that  is  to  say,  to  ‘ King  Adar  ’ 
and  4 King  Anu.’ 

Such  were  the  principal  divinities  of  Babylonia  and 
Assyria.  But  the  Assyrians  had  another  also,  whom 
they  exalted  above  all  the  rest.  This  was  Assur,  the 
divine  impersonation  of  the  state  and  empire.  It  was 
Assur  who,  according  to  the  Assyrian  kings,  led  them  to 
victory,  and  the  cruelties  they  practised  on  the  conquered 
were,  they  held,  judgments  exercised  against  those  who 
would  not  believe  in  him.  Assur,  in  the  form  of  an 
archer,  is  sometimes  represented  on  the  monuments  in 
the  midst  of  the  winged  solar  disk,  and  above  the  head 
of  the  monarch,  whom  he  protects  from  his  enemies. 

The  Assyrian,  however,  was  not  so  pious  or  super- 
stitious as  his  Babylonian  neighbour.  The  Babylonian 
lived  in  perpetual  dread  of  the  evil  spirits  which  thronged 
about  him ; almost  every  moment  had  its  religious 
ceremony,  almost  every  action  its  religious  complement. 
Not  only  had  the  State  ritual  to  be  attended  to;  the 
unceasing  attacks  of  the  demons  could  be  warded  off 
only  by  magical  incantations  and  the  intervention  of  the 


ASSYRIAN  RELIGION. 


67 


sorcerer-priest.  But  the  Assyrians  were  too  much 
occupied  with  wars  and  fighting  to  give  all  this  heed  to 
the  requirements  of  religion.  It  is  significant  that, 
whereas  in  Babylonia  we  find  the  remains  of  scarcely 
any  great  buildings  except  temples,  the  great  buildings 
of  Assyria  were  the  royal  palaces.  The  libraries,  which 
in  Babylonia  were  stored  in  the  temples,  were  deposited 
in  Assyria  in  the  palace  of  the  king. 

Nevertheless,  the  greater  part  of  the  religious  system 
of  Babylonia  had  been  transported  into  Assyria.  Along 
with  the  Babylonian  deities  had  come  the  Babylonian 
scriptures.  These  were  divided  into  two  great  collections 
or  volumes.  The  first,  and  oldest,  was  a collection  of 
exorcisms  and  magical  texts,  by  the  use  of  which,  it  was 
believed,  the  spirits  of  evil  could  be  driven  away,  and  the 
spirits  of  good  induced  to  visit  the  reciter.  When, 
however,  certain  independent  deities  began  to  emerge 
from  among  the  multitudinous  ‘ spirits  ’ of  the  primitive 
Accadian  creed,  hymns  were  composed  in  their  honour, 
and  these  hymns  were  eventually  collected  together, 
and,  like  the  Rig-Veda  of  India,  became  a second  sacred 
book.  After  the  Accadians  had  been  supplanted  by  the 
Semites,  the  Accadian  language,  in  which  the  hymns 
were  originally  written,  was  provided  with  a Semitic 
translation  ; but  it  was  still  considered  necessary  to  recite 
the  exact  words  of  the  original,  since  the  words  them- 
selves were  sacred,  and  any  mistake  in  their  pronunciation 
would  invalidate  the  religious  service  in  which  they  were 
employed.  Some  of  the  incantations  embodied  in  the 

E 2 


68  ASSYRIA:  ITS  PRINCES,  PRIESTS,  AND  PEOPLE. 

collection  of  exorcisms  must  have  been  introduced  into 
it  subsequently  to  the  compilation  of  the  sacred  hymns, 
since  the  latter  are  found  inserted  in  them.  From  this 
it  would  appear  that  the  older  collection  continued  to 
receive  additions  for  a long  while  after  the  younger 
collection — that  of  the  sacred  hymns — had  been  put 
together  and  invested  with  a sacred  character.  This 
could  not  have  been  till  after  the  beginning  of  the 
Semitic  period,  since  there  are  a few  hymns  which 
do  not  seem  to  have  had  any  Accadian  originals.  If 
we  may  compare  the  two  collections  with  our  own 
religious  literature,  we  may  say  that  the  collection  of 
hymns  corresponded  more  to  our  Bible,  that  of  exorcisms 
to  our  Prayer  Book. 

The  Babylonians  and  Assyrians,  however,  possessed  a 
liturgy  which  answered  far  better  to  our  conception  of 
what  a Prayer  Book  should  be.  This  contained  services 
for  particular  days  and  hours,  together  with  rubrics  for 
the  direction  of  the  priest.  Thus  we  are  told  that  ‘ in 
the  month  Nisan,  on  the  second  day,  two  hours  after 
nightfall,  the  priest  [of  Bel  at  Babylon]  must  come  and 
take  of  the  waters  of  the  river,  must  enter  into  the 
presence  of  Bel,  and  change  his  dress  ; must  put  on 
a robe  in  the  presence  of  Bel,  and  say  this  prayer : “ O 
my  lord  who  in  his  strength  has  no  equal,  O my  lord, 
blessed  sovereign,  lord  of  the  world,  speeding  the  peace 
of  the  great  gods,  the  lord  who  in  his  might  destroys 
the  strong,  lord  of  kings,  light  of  mankind,  establisher 
of  trust,  O Bel,  thy  sceptre  is  Babylon,  thy  crown  is 


ASSYRIAN  RELIGION. 


69 


Borsippa,  the  wide  heaven  is  the  dwelling-place  of  thy 
liver.  . . . O lord  of  the  world,  light  of  the  spirits  of 

heaven,  utterer  of  blessings,  who  is  there  whose  mouth 
murmurs  not  of  thy  righteousness,  or  speaks  not  of  thy 
glory,  and  celebrates  not  thy  dominion  ? O lord  of  the 
world,  who  dwellest  in  the  temple  of  the  sun,  reject  not 
the  hands  that  are  raised  to  thee  ; be  merciful  to  thy 
city  Babylon,  to  Beth-Saggil  thy  temple  incline  thy 
face,  grant  the  prayers  of  thy  people  the  sons  of 
Babylon.”  ’ 

Part  of  the  liturgy  consisted  of  prayers  addressed  to 
the  various  deities,  and  suited  to  various  occasions. 
Here  are  examples  of  them  : ‘ At  dawn  and  in  the  night 
prayer  should  be  made  to  the  throne-bearer,  and  thus 
should  it  be  said  : “ O throne-bearer,  giver  of  prosperity, 
a prayer!”  After  that,  let  prayer  be  made  to  Nusku, 
and  thus  let  it  be  said  : “ O Nusku,  prince  and  king  of 
the  secrets  of  the  great  gods,  a prayer  ! ” After  that,  let 
prayer  be  made  to  Adar,  and  thus  let  it  be  said : “ O 
Adar,  mighty  lord  of  the  deep  places  of  the  springs,  a 
prayer  ! ” After  that  let  prayer  be  made  to  Gula  (Beltis), 
and  thus  let  it  be  said  : “ O Gula,  mother,  begetter  of 
the  black-headed  race  (of  Accadians),  a prayer  ! ” After 
that,  let  prayer  be  made  to  Nin-lil,  and  thus  let  it  be 
said:  “O  Nin-lil,  great  goddess,  wife  of  the  divine 
prince  of  sovereignty,  a prayer ! ” After  that,  let  prayer 
be  made  to  Bel,  and  thus  let  it  be  said  : “ O lord  supreme, 
establisher  of  law,  a prayer ! ” The  prayer  (must  be 
repeated)  during  the  day  at  dawn,  and  in  the  night, 


7 O ASSYRIA:  ITS  PRINCES,  PRIESTS,  AND  PEOPLE. 


with  face  and  mouth  uplifted,  during  the  middle  watch. 
Water  must  be  poured  out  in  libation  day  by  day 
. . . at  dawn,  on  the  beams  of  the  palace/ 

One  of  the  most  curious  of  these  petitions  is  a prayer 
after  a bad  dream,  of  which  a fragment  only  has  been 
found.  This  reads  as  follows : ‘ May  the  lord  set  my 
prayer  at  rest,  (may  he  remove)  my  heavy  (sin).  May 
the  lord  (grant)  a return  of  favour.  By  day  direct  unto 
death  all  that  disquiets  me.  O my  goddess,  be  gracious 
unto  me  ; when  (wilt  thou  hear)  my  prayer  ? May  they 
pardon  my  sin,  my  wickedness,  (and)  my  transgression. 
May  the  exalted  one  deliver,  may  the  holy  one  love. 
May  the  seven  winds  carry  away  my  groaning.  May 
the  worm  lay  it  low,  may  the  bird  bear  it  upwards  to 
heaven.  May  a shoal  of  fish  carry  it  away ; may  the 
river  bear  it  along.  May  the  creeping  thing  of  the  field 
come  unto  me  ; may  the  waters  of  the  river  as  they  flow 
cleanse  me.  Enlighten  me  like  a mask  of  gold.  Food 
and  drink  before  thee  perpetually  may  I get.  Heap  up 
the  worm,  take  away  his  life.  The  steps  of  thy  altar, 
thy  many  ones,  may  I ascend.  With  the  worm  make  me 
pass,  and  may  I be  kept  with  thee.  Make  me  to  be  fed, 
and  may  a favourable  dream  come.  May  the  dream  I 
dream  be  favourable ; may  the  dream  I dream  be 
fulfilled.  May  the  dream  I dream  turn  to  prosperity. 
May  Makhir,  the  god  of  dreams,  settle  upon  my  head. 
Let  me  enter  Beth-Saggil,  the  palace  of  the  gods,  the 
temple  of  the  lord.  Give  me  unto  Merodach,  the 
merciful,  to  prosperity,  even  unto  prospering  hands. 


ASSYRIAN  RELIGION. 


7 1 


May  thy  entering  (O  Merodach)  be  exalted,  may  thy 
divinity  be  glorious  ; may  the  men  of  thy  city  extol  thy 
mighty  deeds.’ 

Along  with  these  prayers,  the  Assyrians  possessed  a 
collection  of  penitential  psalms,  which  were  composed  at 
a very  remote  period  in  Southern  Babylonia.  The  most 
perfect  of  those  of  which  we  have  copies  is  the 
following : — 

My  Lord  is  wroth  in  his  heart : may  he  be  appeased  again. 

May  God  be  appeased  again,  for  I knew  not  that  I sinned. 

May  Istar,  my  mother,  be  appeased  again,  for  I knew  not 
that  I sinned, 

God  knoweth  that  I knew  not : may  he  be  appeased. 

Istar,  my  mother,  knoweth  that  I knew  not : may  she  be 
appeased. 

May  the  heart  of  my  God  be  appeased. 

May  God  and  Istar,  my  mother,  be  appeased. 

May  God  cease  from  his  anger. 

May  Istar,  my  mother,  cease  from  her  anger. 

The  transgression  (I  committed  my  God)  knew. 

[The  next  few  lines  are  obliterated.] 

The  transgression  (I  committed,  Istar,  my  mother,  knew). 

(My  tears)  I drink  like  the  waters  of  the  sea. 

That  which  was  forbidden  by  my  God  I ate  without 
knowing. 

That  which  was  forbidden  by  Istar,  my  mother,  I trampled 
on  without  knowing. 

O my  Lord,  my  transgression  is  great,  many  are  my  sins 

O my  God,  my  transgression  is  great,  many  are  my  sins 


72  ASSYRIA:  ITS  PRINCES,  PRIESTS,  AND  PEOPLE. 


O Istar,  my  mother,  my  transgression  is  great,  many  are  my 
sins. 

O my  God,  who  knowest  that  I knew  not,  my  transgression 
is  great,  many  are  my  sins. 

0 Istar,  my  mother,  who  knowest  that  I knew  not,  my 
transgression  is  great,  many  are  my  sins. 

The  transgression  that  I committed  I knew  not. 

The  sin  that  I sinned  I knew  not. 

The  forbidden  thing  did  I eat. 

The  forbidden  thing  did  I trample  on. 

My  Lord,  in  the  anger  of  his  heart,  has  punished  me. 

God,  in  the  strength  of  his  heart,  has  taken  me. 

Istar,  my  mother,  has  seized  upon  me,  and  put  me  to  grief. 
God,  who  knoweth  that  I knew  not,  has  afflicted  me. 

Istar,  my  mother,  who  knoweth  that  I knew  not,  has  caused 
darkness. 

1 prayed,  and  none  takes  my  hand. 

I wept,  and  none  held  my  palm. 

I cry  aloud,  but  there  is  none  that  will  hear  me. 

I am  in  darkness  and  hiding,  I dare  not  look  up. 

To  God  I refer  my  distress,  I utter  my  prayer. 

The  feet  of  Istar,  my  mother,  I embrace. 

To  God,  who  knoweth  that  I knew  not,  my  prayer  I utter. 
To  Istar,  my  mother,  who  knoweth  that  I knew  not,  my 
prayer  I address. 

[The  next  four  lines  are  destroyed.] 

How  long,  O God  (shall  I suffer)  ? 

How  long,  O Istar,  my  mother  (shall  I be  afflicted)  ? 

How  long,  O God,  who  knoweth  that  I knew  not  (shall  I 
feel  thy)  strength  ? 


ASSYRIAN  RELIGION. 


73 


How  long,  O Istar,  my  mother,  who  knoweth  that  I knew 
not,  shall  thy  heart  (be  angry)  ? 

Thou  writest  the  number  (?)  of  mankind,  and  none  knoweth 

it. 

Thou  callest  man  by  his  name,  and  what  does  he  know? 

Whether  he  shall  be  afflicted,  or  whether  he  shall  be 
prosperous,  there  is  no  man  that  knoweth. 

O my  God,  thou  givest  not  rest  to  thy  servant. 

In  the  waters  of  the  raging  flood  take  his  hand. 

The  sin  he  has  sinned  turn  into  good. 

Let  the  wind  carry  away  the  transgression  I have  committed. 

Destroy  my  manifold  wickednesses  like  a garment. 

O my  God,  seven  times  seven  are  my  transgressions,  my 
transgressions  are  (ever)  before  me. 

A rubric  is  attached  to  this  verse,  stating  that  it  is 
to  be  repeated  ten  times,  and  at  the  end  of  the  whole 
psalm  is  the  further  rubric:  ‘For  the  tearful  supplica- 
tion of  the  heart  let  the  glorious  name  of  every  god  be 
invoked  sixty-five  times,  and  then  the  heart  shall  have 
peace.’ 

Reference  is  made  in  the  psalm  to  the  eating  of  for- 
bidden foods,  and  we  have  other  indications  that  certain 
kinds  of  food,  among  which  swine’s  flesh  may  be  men- 
tioned, were  not  allowed  to  be  consumed.  On  particular 
days  also  fasts  were  observed,  and  special  days  of  fasting 
and  humiliation  were  prescribed  in  times  of  public 
calamity.  In  the  calendar  of  the  Egibi  banking  firm, 
the  2nd  of  Tammuz  or  June  is  entered  as  a day  of 
‘ weeping.’  The  institution  of  the  Sabbath,  moreover, 


74  ASSYRIA:  ITS  PRINCES,  PRIESTS,  AND  PEOPLE. 


was  known  to  the  Babylonians  and  Assyrians,  though 
it  was  confounded  with  the  feast  of  the  new  moon,  since 
it  was  kept,  not  every  seven  days,  but  on  the  seventh, 
fourteenth,  twenty-first,  and  twenty-eighth  days  of  the 
lunar  month.  On  these  days,  we  read  in  a sort  of 
Saints’  calendar  for  the  intercalary  Elul : ‘ Flesh  cooked 
on  the  fire  may  not  be  eaten,  the  clothing  of  the  body 
may  not  be  changed,  white  garments  may  not  be  put  on, 
a sacrifice  may  not  be  offered,  the  king  may  not  ride  in 
his  chariot,  nor  speak  in  public,  the  augur  may  not 
mutter  in  a secret  place,  medicine  of  the  body  may  not 
be  applied,  nor  may  any  curse  be  uttered.’  The  very 
name  of  Sabattu  or  Sabbath  was  employed  by  the 
Assyrians,  and  is  defined  as  ‘ a day  of  rest  for  the  heart,’ 
while  the  Accadian  equivalent  is  explained  to  mean  ‘ a 
day  of  completion  of  labour.’ 

So  far  as  we  are  at  present  acquainted  with  the 
peculiarities  of  the  Assyro-Babylonian  temple,  it  offers 
many  points  of  similarity  to  the  temple  of  Solomon  at 
Jerusalem.  Thus  there  were  an  outer  and  an  inner 
court  and  a shrine,  to  which  the  priests  alone  had  access. 
In  this  was  an  altar  approached  by  steps,  as  well  as  an 
ark  or  coffer  containing  two  inscribed  tablets  of  stone, 
such  as  were  discovered  by  Mr.  Rassam  in  the  temple  of 
Balawat.  In  the  outer  court  was  a large  basin,  filled 
with  water,  and  called  ‘a  sea,’  which  was  used  for 
ablutions  and  religious  ceremonies.  At  the  entrance 
stood  colossal  figures  of  winged  bulls,  termed  ‘cherubs,’ 
which  were  imagined  to  prevent  the  ingress  of  evil 


ASSYRIAN  RELIGION. 


75 


spirits.  Similar  figures  guarded  the  approach  to  the 
royal  palace,  and  possibly  to  other  houses  as  well.  Some 
of  them  may  now  be  seen  in  the  British  Museum. 
Within,  the  temples  were  filled  with  images  of  gods, 
great  and  small,  which  not  only  represented  the  deities 
whose  names  they  bore,  but  were  believed  to  confer  of 
themselves  a special  sanctity  on  the  place  wherein  they 
were  placed.  As  among  the  Israelites,  offerings  were 
of  two  kinds,  sacrifices  and  meal  offerings.  The  sacrifice 
consisted  of  an  animal,  more  usually  a bullock,  part  of 
whose  flesh  was  burnt  upon  the  altar,  while  the  rest  was 
handed  over  to  the  priests  or  retained  by  the  offerer. 
There  is  no  trace  of  human  sacrifices  among  the  Assy- 
rians, which  is  the  more  singular,  since  we  learn  that 
human  sacrifice  had  been  an  Accadian  institution.  A 
passage  in  an  old  astrological  work  indicates  that  the 
victims  were  burnt  to  death,  like  the  victims  of  Moloch  ; 
and  an  early  Accadian  fragment  expressly  states  that 
they  were  to  be  the  children  of  those  for  whose  sins 
they  were  offered  to  the  gods.  The  fragment  is  as 
follows : ‘ The  son  who  lifts  his  head  among  men,  the 
son  for  his  own  life  must  (the  father)  give ; the  head  of 
the  child  for  the  head  of  the  man  must  he  give  ; the  neck 
of  the  child  for  the  neck  of  the  man  must  he  give  ; the 
breast  of  the  child  for  the  breast  of  the  man  must  he 
give.’  The  idea  of  vicarious  punishment  is  here  clearly 
indicated. 

The  future  life  to  which  the  Babylonian  had  looked 
forward  was  dreary  enough.  Hades,  the  land  of  the 


76  ASSYRIA:  ITS  PRINCES,  PRIESTS,  AND  PEOPLE. 

dead,  was  beneath  the  earth,  a place  of  darkness  and 
gloom,  from  which  ‘ none  might  return,’  where  the  spirits 
of  the  dead  flitted  like  bats,  with  dust  alone  for  their 
food.  Here  the  shadowy  phantoms  of  the  heroes  of  old 
time  sat  crowned,  each  upon  his  throne,  a belief  to  which 
allusion  is  made  by  the  Hebrew  prophet  in  his  pro- 
phecy of  the  coming  overthrow  of  Babylon  (Is.  xiv.  9). 
In  the  midst  stood  the  palace  of  Allat,  the  queen  of  the 
underworld,  where  the  waters  of  life  bubbled  forth 
beside  the  golden  throne  of  the  spirits  of  earth,  restoring 
those  who  might  drink  of  them  to  life  and  the  upper  air. 
Tiie  entrance  to  this  dreary  abode  of  the  departed  lay 
beyond  Datilla,  the  river  of  death,  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Euphrates,  and  it  was  here  that  the  hero  Gisdhubar 
saw  Xisuthros,  the  Chaldean  Noah,  after  his  translation 
to  the  fields  of  the  blessed.  In  later  times,  when  the 
horizon  of  geographical  knowledge  was  widened,  the 
entrance  to  the  gloomy  world  of  Hades,  and  the  earthly 
paradise  that  was  above  it,  were  alike  removed  to  other 
and  more  unknown  regions.  The  conception  of  the 
after-life,  moreover,  was  made  brighter,  at  all  events,  for 
the  favoured  few.  An  Assyrian  court-poet  prays  thus 
on  behalf  of  his  king : ‘ The  land  of  the  silver  sky,  oil 
unceasing,  the  benefits  of  blessedness  may  he  obtain 
among  the  feasts  of  the  gods,  and  a happy  cycle  among 
their  light,  even  life  everlasting,  and  bliss ; such  is  my 
prayer  to  the  gods  who  dwell  in  the  land  of  Assur.’ 
Even  at  a far  earlier  time  we  find  the  great  Chaldean  epic 
of  Gisdhubar  concluding  with  a description  of  the  bliss- 


ASSYRIAN  RELIGION. 


77 


ful  lot  ol  the  spirit  of  Ea-bani : ‘ On  a couch  he  reclines 
and  pure  water  he  drinks.  Him  who  is  slain  in  battle 
thou  seest  and  I see.  His  father  and  his  mother  (sup- 
port) his  head,  his  wife  addresses  the  corpse.  His  friends 
in  the  fields  are  standing ; thou  seest  (them)  and  I see. 
His  spoil  on  the  ground  is  uncovered  ; of  his  spoil  he 
hath  no  oversight,  (as)  thou  seest  and  I see.  His  tender 
orphans  beg  for  bread  ; the  food  that  was  stored  in  (his) 
tent  is  eaten.’  Here  the  spirit  of  Ea-bani  is  supposed  to 
behold  from  his  couch  in  heaven  the  deeds  that  take 
place  on  the  earth  below. 

Heaven  itself  had  not  always  been  ‘the  land  of  the 
silver  sky  ’ of  later  Assyrian  belief.  The  Babylonians 
once  believed  that  the  gods  inhabited  the  snow-clad 
peak  of  Rowandiz,  ‘ the  mountain  of  the  world  ’ and  ‘ the 
mountain  of  the  East,’  as  it  was  also  termed,  which 
supported  the  starry  vault  of  heaven.  It  is  to  this  old 
Babylonian  belief  that  allusion  is  made  in  Isaiah  xiv.  13, 
14,  where  the  Babylonian  monarch  is  represented  as 
saying  in  his  heart : ‘ I will  ascend  into  heaven,  I will 
exalt  my  throne  above  the  stars  of  God  : I will  sit  also 
on  the  mount  of  the  assembly  (of  the  gods)1  in  the 
extremities2  of  the  north : I will  ascend  above  the 
heights  of  the  clouds.’ 

As  in  all  old  forms  of  heathen  faith,  religion  and 
mythology  were  inextricably  mixed  together.  Myths 
were  told  of  most  of  the  gods.  Reference  has  already 
been  made  to  the  myth  of  Istar  and  Tammuz,  the  pro- 
1 A.  V ‘congregation.’  2 a.  y.  ‘sides.’ 


y8  ASSYRIA:  ITS  princes,  priests,  and  people. 

totype  of  the  Greek  legend  of  Aphrodite  and  Adonis. 
So,  too,  the  Greek  story  of  the  theft  of  fire  by  Prome- 
theus has  its  parallel  in  the  Babylonian  story  of  the  god 
Zu,  ‘ the  divine  storm-bird/  who  stole  the  lightning  of 
Bel,  the  tablet  whereon  the  knowledge  of  futurity  is 
written,  and  who  was  punished  for  his  crime  by  the  father 
of  the  gods.  In  reading  the  legend  of  the  plague-demon 
Lubara,  whom  Anu  sends  to  smite  the  evildoers  in 
Babylon,  Erech,  and  other  places,  we  are  reminded  of 
the  avenging  angel  of  God  whom  David  saw  standing 
with  a drawn  sword  over  Jerusalem. 

One  of  the  most  curious  of  the  Babylonian  myths  was 
that  which  told  how  the  seven  evil-spirits  or  storm- 
demons  had  once  warred  against  the  moon  and  threat 
ened  to  devour  it.  Samas  and  Istar  fled  from  the  lower 
sky,  and  the  Moon-god  would  have  been  blotted  out 
from  heaven  had  not  Bel  and  Ea  sent  Merodach  in  his 
‘ glistening  armour  ’ to  rescue  him.  The  myth  is  really 
a primitive  attempt  to  explain  a lunar  eclipse,  and  finds 
its  illustration  in  the  dragon  of  the  Chinese,  who  is  still 
popularly  believed  by  them  to  devour  the  sun  or  moon 
when  an  eclipse  takes  place. 

The  primaeval  victory  of  light  and  order  over  dark- 
ness and  chaos,  which  seems  to  be  repeated  whenever 
the  sun  bursts  through  a storm-cloud,  was  similarly 
expressed  in  a mythical  form.  It  was  the  victory  of 
Merodach  over  Tiamat,  ‘ the  deep,’  the  personification  of 
chaos  and  elemental  anarchy.  The  myth  was  embodied 
in  a poem,  the  greater  part  of  which  has  been  preserved 


ASSYRIAN  RELIGION. 


79 


to  us.  We  are  told  how  Merodach  was  armed  by  the 
gods  with  bow  and  scimetar,  how  alone  he  faced  and 
fought  the  dragon  Tiamat,  driving  the  winds  into  her 
throat  when  she  opened  her  mouth  to  swallow  him,  and 
how,  finally,  he  cut  open  her  body,  scattering  in  flight 
‘ the  rebellious  deities  ’ who  had  stood  at  her  side. 
Tiamat,  or  the  watery  chaos,  is  usually  represented  with 
wings,  claws,  tail,  and  horns,  but  she  is  also  identified 
with  ‘ the  wicked  serpent  ’ of  * night  and  darkness/  ‘ the 
monstrous  serpent  of  seven  heads/  ‘ which  beats  the  sea/ 
The  most  interesting  of  the  old  myths  and  traditions 
of  Babylonia  are  those  in  which  we  can  trace,  more  or 
less  clearly,  the  lineaments  of  the  accounts  of  the 
creation  of  the  world  and  the  early  history  of  man, 
given  us  in  the  early  chapters  of  Genesis.  There  was 
more  than  one  legend  of  the  creation.  In  a text  which 
came  from  the  library  of  Cuthah,  it  was  described  as 
taking  place  on  evolutionary  principles,  the  first  created 
beings  being  the  brood  of  chaos,  men  with  ‘ the  bodies 
of  birds  ’ and  ‘ the  faces  of  ravens/  who  were  succeeded 
by  the  more  perfect  forms  of  the  existing  world.  But 
the  library  of  Assur-bani-pal  also  contained  an  account 
of  the  creation,  which  bears  a remarkable  resemblance 
to  that  in  the  first  chapter  of  Genesis.  Unfortunately, 
however,  it  seems  to  have  been  of  Assyrian  and  not 
Babylonian  origin,  and,  therefore,  not  to  have  been  of 
early  date.  In  this  account  the  creation  appears  to  be 
described  as  having  been  accomplished  in  six  days.  It 
begins  in  these  words  : 


SO  ASSYRIA:  ITS  PRINCES,  PRIESTS,  AND  PEOPLE. 

‘ At  that  time  the  heavens  above  named  not  a name, 
nor  did  the  earth  below  record  one ; yea,  the  ocean  was 
their  first  creator,  the  flood  of  the  deep  (Tiamat)  was 
she  who  bore  them  all.  Their  waters  were  embosomed 
in  one  place,  and  the  clouds  (?)  were  not  collected,  the 
plant  was  still  ungrown.  At  that  time  the  gods  had  not 
issued  forth,  any  one  of  them  ; by  no  name  were  they 
recorded,  no  destiny  (had  they  fixed).  Then  the  (great) 
gods  were  made ; Lakhmu  and  Lakhamu  issued  forth 
the  first.  They  grew  up.  . . . Next  were  made  the 

host  of  heaven  and  earth.  The  time  was  long,  (and 
then)  the  gods  Anu,  (Bel,  and  Ea  were  born  of)  the  host 
of  heaven  and  earth.’  The  rest  of  the  account  is  lost, 
and  it  is  not  until  we  come  to  the  fifth  tablet  of  the 
series,  which  describes  the  appointment  of  the  heavenly 
bodies,  that  the  narrative  is  again  preserved.  Here  we 
are  told  that  the  creator,  who  seems  to  have  been  Ea, 
‘ made  the  stations  of  the  great  gods,  even  the  stars, 
fixing  the  places  of  the  principal  stars  like  .... 
He  ordered  the  year,  setting  over  it  the  decans ; yea,  he 
established  three  stars  for  each  of  the  twelve  months/ 
It  will  be  remembered  that,  according  to  Genesis,  the 
appointment  of  the  heavenly  bodies  to  guide  and  govern 
the  seasons  was  the  work  of  the  fourth  day,  and  since 
the  work  is  described  in  the  fifth  tablet  or  book  of  the 
Assyrian  account,  while  the  first  tablet  describes  the 
condition  of  the  universe  before  the  creation  was  begun, 
it  becomes  probable  that  the  Assyrians  also  knew  that 
the  work  was  performed  on  the  fourth  day.  The  next 


ASSYRIAN  RELIGION. 


8l 


tablet  states  that  * at  that  time  the  gods  in  their 
assembly  created  (the  living  creatures).  They  made 
the  mighty  (animals).  They  caused  the  living  beings 
to  come  forth,  the  cattle  of  the  field,  the  beast  of  the 
field,  and  the  creeping  thing.’  Unfortunately  the  rest  of 
the  narrative  is  in  too  mutilated  a condition  for  a trans- 
lation to  be  possible,  and  the  part  which  describes  the 
creation  of  man  has  not  yet  been  recovered  among  the 
ruins  of  the  library  of  Nineveh. 

The  Chaldean  account  of  the  Deluge  was  discovered 
by  Mr.  George  Smith,  and  its  close  resemblance  to  the 
account  in  Genesis  is  well  known.  Those  who  wish  to 
see  a translation  of  it,  according  to  the  latest  researches, 
will  find  one  in  the  pages  of  ‘ Fresh  Light  from  the 
Ancient  Monuments.’  The  account  was  introduced  as 
an  episode  into  the  eleventh  book  of  the  great  Baby- 
lonian epic  of  Gisdhubar,  and  appears  to  be  the  amalga- 
mation of  two  older  poems  on  the  subject.  The  story 
of  the  Deluge,  in  fact,  was  a favourite  theme  among  the 
Babylonians,  and  we  have  fragments  of  at  least  two 
other  versions  of  it,  neither  of  which,  however,  agree  so 
remarkably  with  the  Biblical  narrative  as  does  the 
version  discovered  by  Mr.  Smith.  Apart  from  the  pro- 
found difference  caused  by  the  polytheistic  character  of 
the  Chaldean  account,  and  the  monotheism  of  the 
Scriptural  narrative,  it  is  only  in  details  that  the  two 
accounts  vary  from  one  another.  Thus,  the  vessel  in 
which  Xisuthros,  the  Chaldean  Noah,  sails,  is  a ship, 
guided  by  a steersman,  and  not  an  ark,  and  others 

F 


8 2 ASSYRIA:  ITS  PRINCES,  PRIESTS,  AND  PEOPLE. 

besides  his  own  family  are  described  as  being  admitted 
into  it.  So,  too,  the  period  of  time  during  which  the 
flood  was  at  its  height  is  said  to  have  been  seven  days 
only,  while,  beside  the  raven  and  the  dove,  Xisuthros  is 
stated  to  have  sent  out  a third  bird,  the  swallow,  in 
order  to  determine  how  far  the  waters  had  subsided. 
The  Chaldean  ark  rested,  moreover,  on  Rowandiz,  the 
highest  of  the  mountains  of  Eastern  Kurdistan,  and 
the  peak  whereon  Accadian  mythology  imagined  the 
heavens  to  be  supported,  and  not  on  the  northern  or 
Armenian  continuation  of  the  range.  Babylonian  tradi- 
tion, too,  had  fused  into  one  Noah  and  Enoch,  Xisuthros 
being  represented  as  translated  to  the  land  of  immor- 
tality immediately  after  his  descent  from  the  ark  and 
his  sacrifice  to  the  gods.  It  is  noticeable  that  the 
Chaldean  account  agrees  with  that  of  the  Bible  in  one 
remarkable  respect,  in  which  it  differs  from  almost  all 
the  other  traditions  of  the  Deluge  found  throughout  the 
world.  This  is  in  its  ascribing  the  cause  of  the  Deluge 
to  the  wickedness  of  mankind.  It  was  sent  as  a punish- 
ment for  sin. 

As  might  have  been  expected,  the  Babylonians  and 
Assyrians  knew  of  the  building  of  the  Tower  of  Babel, 
and  the  dispersion  of  mankind.  Men  had  ‘ turned 
against  the  father  of  all  the  gods/  under  a leader  the 
thoughts  of  whose  heart  ‘ were  evil.5  At  Babylon  they 
began  to  erect  ‘ a mound/  or  hill-like  tower,  but  the 
winds  destroyed  it  in  the  night,  and  Anu  ‘confounded 
great  and  small  on  the  mound/  as  well  as  their  ‘ speech/ 


ASSYRIAN  RELIGION. 


83 


and  ‘ made  strange  their  counsel.’  All  this  was  supposed 
to  have  taken  place  at  the  time  of  the  autumnal  equinox, 
and  it  is  possible  that  the  name  of  the  rebel  leader, 
which  is  lost,  was  Etana.  At  all  events  the  demi-god 
Etana  played  a conspicuous  part  in  the  early  historical 
mythology  of  Babylonia,  like  two  other  famous  divine 
kings,  Ner  and  Dun,  and  a fragment  describes  him  as 
having  built  a city  of  brick.  However  this  may  be, 
Etana  is  the  Babylonian  Titan  of  Greek  writers,  who, 
with  Prometheus  and  Ogygos,  made  war  against  the 
gods. 

If  we  sum  up  the  character  of  Assyrian  religion,  we 
shall  find  it  characterised  by  curious  contrasts.  On  the 
one  hand  we  shall  find  it  grossly  polytheistic,  believing 
in  ‘ lords  many  and  gods  many,’  and  admitting  not  only 
gods  and  demi-gods,  and  even  deified  men,  but  the 
multitudinous  spirits,  ‘the  host  of  heaven  and  earth,’ 
who  were  classed  together  as  the  ‘ 300  spirits  of  heaven 
and  the  600  spirits  of  earth.’  Some  of  these  were 
beneficent,  others  hostile,  to  man.  In  addition  to  this 
vast  army  of  divine  powers,  the  Assyrian  offered  worship 
also  to  the  heavenly  bodies,  and  to  the  spirits  of  rivers 
and  mountains.  He  even  set  up  stones  or  ‘ Beth-els/  so 
called  because  they  were  imagined  to  be  veritable 
‘houses  of  god,’  wherein  the  godhead  dwelt,  and  over 
these  he  poured  out  libations  of  oil  and  wine.  Yet,  on 
the  other  hand,  with  all  this  gross  polytheism,  there  was 
a strong  tendency  to  monotheism.  The  supreme  god, 
Assur,  is  often  spoken  of  in  language  which  at  first  sight 

F 2 


84  ASSYRIA:  ITS  PRINCES,  PRIESTS,  AND  PEOPLE. 

seems  monotheistic : to  him  the  Assyrian  monarchs 
ascribe  their  victories,  and  in  his  name  they  make  war 
against  the  unbeliever.  A similar  inconsistency  prevailed 
in  the  character  of  Assyrian  worship  itself.  There  was 
much  in  it  which  commands  our  admiration : the 
Assyrian  confessed  his  sins  to  his  gods,  he  begged 
for  their  pardon  and  help,  he  allowed  nothing  to 
interfere  with  what  he  conceived  to  be  his  religious 
duties.  With  all  this,  his  worship  of  Istar  was  stained 
with  the  foulest  excesses — excesses,  too,  indulged  in, 
like  those  of  the  Phoenicians,  in  the  name  and  for  the 
sake  of  religion. 

Much  of  this  inconsistency  may  be  explained  by  the 
history  of  his  religious  ideas.  As  we  have  seen,  a large 
part  of  them  was  derived  from  a non-Semitic  population, 
the  primitive  inhabitants  of  Babylonia,  under  whose 
influence  the  Semitic  Babylonians  had  come  at  a time 
when  they  still  lacked  nearly  all  the  elements  of  culture. 
The  result  was  a form  of  creed  in  which  the  old 
Accadian  faith  was  bodily  taken  over  by  an  alien  race, 
but  at  the  same  time  profoundly  modified.  It  was 
Accadian  religion  interpreted  by  the  Semitic  mind  and 
belief.  Baal-worship,  which  saw  the  Sun-god  everywhere 
under  an  infinite  variety  of  manifestations,  waged  a 
constant  struggle  with  the  conceptions  of  the  borrowed 
creed,  but  never  overcame  them  altogether.  The  gods 
and  spirits  of  the  Accadians  remained  to  the  last,  although 
permeated  and  overlaid  with  the  worship  of  the  Semitic 
Sun-god.  As  time  went  on,  new  religious  elements  were 


ASSYRIAN  RELIGION. 


85 


introduced,  and  Assyro-Babylonian  religion  underwent 
new  phases,  while  in  Assyria  itself  the  deified  state  in 
the  person  of  the  god  Assur  tended  to  absorb  the 
religious  cult  and  aspirations  of  the  people.  The  higher 
minds  of  the  nation  struggled  now  and  again  towards 
the  conception  of  one  supreme  God  and  of  a purer  form 
of  faith,  but  the  dead  weight  of  polytheistic  beliefs  and 
practices  prevented  them  from  ever  really  reaching  it. 
In  the  best  examples  of  their  religious  literature  we 
constantly  fall  across  expressions  and  ideas  which  show 
how  wide  was  the  gulf  that  separated  them  from  that 
kindred  people  of  Israel  to  whom  the  oracles  of  God 
were  revealed. 


86 


CHAPTER  IV. 

Art,  Literature,  and  Science. 

ASSYRIAN  art  was,  speaking  generally,  imported  from 
Babylonia.  Even  the  palace  of  the  king  was  built  of 
bricks,  and  raised  upon  a mound  like  the  palaces  and 
temples  of  Babylonia,  although  stone  was  plentiful 
in  Assyria,  and  there  was  no  marshy  plain  where 
inundations  might  be  feared.  It  was  only  the  walls  that 
were  lined  with  sculptured  slabs  of  alabaster,  the 
sculptures  taking  the  place  of  the  paintings  in  vermilion, 
which  adorned  the  houses  of  Babylonia  (Ezek.  xxiii.  14). 

It  is  at  Khorsabad,  or  Dur-Sargon,  the  city  built  by 
Sargon,  to  the  north  of  Nineveh,  that  we  can  best  study 
the  architectural  genius  of  Assyria.  The  city  was  laid 
out  in  the  form  of  a square,  and  surrounded  by  walls 
forty-six  feet  thick  and  over  a mile  in  length  each  way, 
the  angles  of  which  faced  the  four  cardinal  points.  The 
outer  wall  was  flanked  with  eight  tall  towers,  and  was 
erected  on  a mound  of  rubble. 

On  the  north-west  side  stood  the  royal  palace,  defended 
also  by  a wall  of  its  own,  and  built  on  a T“shaped 
platform.  It  was  approached  through  an  outer  court, 
the  gates  of  which  were  hung  under  arches  of  enamelled 
brick,  and  guarded  by  colossal  figures  in  stone.  From 


ART,  LITERATURE,  AND  SCIENCE. 


87 


the  court  an  inclined  plane  led  to  the  first  terrace 
occupied  by  a number  of  small  rooms,  in  which  the 
French  excavators  saw  the  barracks  of  the  palace-guard. 
Above  this  terrace  rose  a second,  at  a height  of  about 
ten  feet,  upon  which  was  built  the  royal  palace 
itself.  This  was  entered  through  a gateway,  on  either 
side  of  which  stood  the  stone  figure  of  a ‘ cherub,’  while 
within  it  was  a court  350  feet  long  and  170  feet  wide. 
Beyond  this  court  was  an  inner  one,  which  formed  a 
square  of  1 50  feet.  On  its  left  were  the  royal  chambers, 
consisting  of  a suite  of  ten  rooms,  and  beyond  them 
again  the  private  chapel  of  the  monarch,  leading  to  the 
apartments  in  which  he  commonly  lived.  On  the  west 
side  of  the  palace  rose  a tower,  built  in  stages,  on  the 
summit  of  which  was  the  royal  observatory. 

It  is  a question  whether  the  Assyrian  palace  possessed 
any  upper  stories.  On  the  whole,  probability  speaks 
against  it.  Columns,  however,  were  used  plentifully. 
The  column,  in  fact,  had  been  a Babylonian  invention, 
and  originated  in  the  necessity  of  supporting  buildings 
• on  wooden  pillars  in  a country  where  there  was  no  stone. 
From  Babylonia  columnar  architecture  passed  into 
Assyria,  where  it  assumed  exaggerated  forms,  the 
column  being  sometimes  made  to  rest  on  the  backs  of 
lions,  dogs,  and  winged  bulls. 

The  apertures  which  served  as  windows  were  pro- 
tected by  heavy  folds  of  tapestry,  that  kept  out  the  heats 
of  summer  and  the  cold  winds  of  winter.  In  warm 
weather,  however,  the  inmates  of  the  house  preferred  to 


88  ASSYRIA:  ITS  PRINCES,  PRIESTS,  AND  PEOPLE. 


sit  in  the  open  air,  either  in  the  airy  courts  upon  which 
its  chambers  opened,  or  under  the  shady  trees  of  the 
paradeisos  or  park  attached  to  the  dwellings  of  the  rich. 
The  leases  of  houses  let  or  sold  in  Nineveh  in  the  time 
of  the  Second  Assyrian  Empire  generally  make  mention 
of  the  ‘ shrubbery,’  which  formed  part  of  the  property. 

Assyrian  sculpture  was  for  the  most  part  in  relief. 
The  Assyrians  carved  badly  in  the  round,  unlike  the 
Babylonians,  some  of  whose  sitting  statues  are  not 
wanting  in  an  air  of  dignity  and  repose.  But  they 
excelled  in  that  kind  of  shallow  relief  of  which  so  many 
examples  have  been  brought  to  the  British  Museum. 
We  can  trace  three  distinct  periods  in  the  history  of  this 
form  of  art.  The  first  period  is  that  which  begins,  so  far 
as  we  know  at  present,  with  the  age  of  Assur-natsir-pal. 
It  is  characterised  by  boldness  and  vigour,  by  an  absence 
of  background  or  landscape,  and  by  an  almost  total  want 
of  perspective.  With  very  few  exceptions,  faces  and 
figures  are  drawn  in  profile.  But  with  all  this  want  of 
skill,  the  work  is  often  striking  from  the  spirit  with 
which  it  is  executed,  and  the  naturalness  with  which 
animals,  more  especially,  are  depicted.  A bas-relief 
representing  a lion-hunt  of  Assur-natsir-pal  has  been 
often  selected  as  a typical,  though  favourable,  illustration 
of  the  art  of  this  age. 

The  second  period  extends  from  the  foundation  of  the 
Second  Assyrian  Empire  to  the  reign  of  Esar-haddon. 
The  artist  has  lost  in  vigour,  but  has  compensated  for  it 
by  care  and  accuracy.  The  foreground  is  now  filled  in 


ART,  LITERATURE,  AND  SCIENCE.  89 

with  vegetable  and  other  forms,  all  drawn  with  a pre- 
Raffaeliite  exactitude.  The  relief  consequently  becomes 
exceedingly  rich,  and  produces  the  effect  of  embroidery 
in  stone.  It  is  probable  that  the  delicate  minuteness  of 
this  period  of  art  was  in  great  measure  due  to  the  work 
in  ivory  that  had  now  become  fashionable  at  Nineveh. 

The  third,  and  best  period,  is  that  of  the  reign  of 
Assur-bani-pal.  There  is  a return  to  the  freedom  of  the 
first  period,  but  without  its  accompanying  rudeness  and 
want  of  skill.  The  landscape  is  either  left  bare,  or 
indicated  in  outline  only,  the  attention  of  the  spectator 
being  thus  directed  to  the  principal  sculpture  itself. 
The  delineation  of  the  human  figure  has  much  im- 
proved ; vegetable  forms  have  lost  much  of  their  stiff- 
ness, and  we  meet  with  several  examples  of  successful 
foreshortening.  Up  to  the  last,  however,  the  Assyrian 
artist  succeeded  but  badly  in  human  portraiture. 
Nothing  can  surpass  some  of  his  pictures  of  animals  ; 
when  he  came  to  deal  with  the  human  figure  he  ex- 
pended his  strength  on  embroidered  robes  and  the 
muscles  of  the  legs  and  arms.  The  reason  of  this  is  not 
difficult  to  discover.  Unlike  the  Egyptian,  who  excelled 
in  the  delineation  of  the  human  form,  he  did  not  draw 
from  nude  models.  The  details  of  the  drapery  were 
with  him  of  more  importance  than  the  features  of  the 
face  or  the  posture  of  the  limbs.  We  cannot  expect  to 
find  portraits  in  the  sculptures  of  Assyria.  Little,  if  any, 
attempt  is  made  even  to  distinguish  the  natives  of 
different  foreign  countries  from  one  another,  except  in 


90  ASSYRIA:  ITS  PRINCES,  PRIESTS,  AND  PEOPLE. 


the  way  of  dress.  All  alike  have  the  same  features  as 
the  Assyrians  themselves. 

The  effect  of  the  bas-reliefs  was  enhanced  by  the 
red,  black,  blue,  and  white  colours  with  which  they  were 
picked  out.  The  practice  had  come  from  Babylonia, 
but  whereas  the  Babylonians  delighted  in  brilliant 
colouring,  their  northern  neighbours  contented  them- 
selves with  much  more  sober  hues.  It  was  no  doubt 
from  the  populations  of  Mesopotamia  that  the  Greeks 
first  learnt  to  paint  and  tint  their  sculptured  stone. 
Unfortunately  it  is  difficult,  if  not  impossible,  to  find 
any  trace  of  colouring  remaining  in  the  Assyrian  bas- 
reliefs  now  in  Europe.  When  first  disinterred,  however, 
the  colours  were  still  bright  in  many  cases,  although 
exposure  to  the  air  soon  caused  them  to  fade  and 
perish. 

The  bas-reliefs  and  colossi  were  moved  from  the 
quarries  out  of  which  they  had  been  dug,  or  the  workshops 
in  which  they  had  been  carved,  by  the  help  of  sledges 
and  rollers.  Hundreds  of  captives  were  employed  to 
drag  the  huge  mass  along  ; sometimes  it  was  trans- 
ported by  water,  the  boat  on  which  it  lay  being  pulled 
by  men  on  shore ; sometimes  it  was  drawn  over  the 
land  by  gangs  of  slaves,  urged  to  their  work  by  the  rod 
and  sword  of  their  task-masters.  On  the  colossus  itself 
stood  an  overseer  holding  to  his  mouth  what  looks  on 
the  monument  like  a modern  speaking-trumpet.  Over 
a sculpture  representing  the  transport  of  one  of  these 
colossi  Sennacherib  has  engraved  the  words : ‘ Senna- 


ART,  LITERATURE,  AND  SCIENCE. 


93 


cherib,  king  of  legions,  king  of  Assyria,  has  caused  the 
winged  bull  and  the  colossi,  the  divinities  which  were 
made  in  the  land  of  the  city  of  the  Baladians,  to  be 
brought  with  joy  to  the  palace  of  his  lordship,  which  is 
within  Nineveh.’  We  may  infer  from  this  epigraph  that 
the  images  themselves  were  believed  to  be  in  some  way 
the  abode  of  divinity,  like  the  Beth-els  or  sacred  stones 
to  which  reference  has  been  made  in  the  last  chapter. 

Like  Assyrian  art,  Assyrian  literature  was  for  the 
most  part  derived  from  Babylonia.  A large  portion  of 
it  was  translated  from  Accadian  originals.  Sometimes 
the  original  was  lost  or  forgotten  ; more  frequently  it 
was  re-edited  from  time  to  time  with  interlinear  or 
parallel  translations  in  Assyro-Babylonian.  This  was 
more  especially  the  case  with  the  sacred  texts,  in  which 
the  old  language  of  Accad  was  itself  accounted  sacred, 
like  Latin  in  the  services  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church, 
or  Coptic  in  those  of  the  modern  Egyptian  Church. 

The  Accadians  had  been  the  inventors  of  the  hiero- 
glyphics or  pictorial  characters  out  of  which  the 
cuneiform  characters  had  afterwards  grown.  Writing 
begins  with  pictures,  and  the  writing  of  the  Babylonians 
formed  no  exception  to  the  rule.  The  pictures  were  at 
first  painted  on  the  papyrus  leaves  which  grew  in  the 
marshes  of  the  Euphrates,  but  as  time  went  on  a new  and 
more  plentiful  writing  material  came  to  be  employed  in 
the  shape  of  clay.  Clay  was  literally  to  be  found  under 
the  feet  of  every  one.  All  that  was  needed  was  to 
impress  it,  while  still  wet,  with  the  hieroglyphic  pictures, 


94  ASSYRIA:  ITS  PRINCES,  PRIESTS,  AND  PEOPLE. 

and  then  dry  it  in  the  sun.  It  is  probable  that  the 
bricks  used  in  the  construction  of  the  great  buildings  of 
Chaldea  were  first  treated  in  this  way.  At  all  events  we 
find  that  up  to  the  last,  the  Babylonian  kings  stamped 
their  names  and  titles  in  the  middle  of  such  bricks,  and 
hundreds  of  them  may  be  met  with  in  the  museums  of 
Europe  bearing  the  name  of  Nebuchadnezzar.  When 
once  the  discovery  was  made  that  clay  could  be 
employed  as  a writing  material,  it  was  quickly  turned  to 
good  account.  All  Babylonia  began  to  write  on  tablets 
of  clay,  and  though  papyrus  continued  to  be  used,  it  was 
reserved  for  what  we  should  now  term  ‘ Editions  de 
luxe.’  The  writing  instrument  had  originally  been  the 
edge  of  a stone  or  a piece  of  stick,  but  these  were  soon 
superseded  by  a metal  stylus  with  a square  head.  Under 
the  combined  influence  of  the  clay  tablet  and  the  metal 
stylus,  the  old  picture-writing  began  to  degenerate  into 
the  cuneiform  or  ‘ wedge-shaped  ’ characters  with  which 
the  monuments  of  Assyria  have  made  us  familiar. 
It  was  difficult,  if  not  impossible,  any  longer  to  draw 
circles  and  curves,  and  accordingly  angles  took  the 
place  of  circles,  and  straight  lines  the  place  of  curves. 
Continuous  lines  were  equally  difficult  to  form ; it  was 
easier  to  represent  them  by  a series  of  indentations,  each 
of  which  took  a wedge-like  appearance  from  the  square 
head  of  the  stylus.  As  soon  as  the  exact  forms  of  the 
old  pictures  began  to  be  obliterated,  other  alterations 
became  inevitable.  The  forms  began  to  be  simplified  by 
the  omission  of  lines  or  wedges  which  were  no  longer 


ART,  LITERATURE,  AND  SCIENCE. 


95 


necessary,  now  that  the  character  had  become  a mere 
symbol  instead  of  a picture  ; and  this  process  of  simpli- 
fication went  on  from  one  century  to  another,  until  in 
many  instances  the  later  form  of  a character  is  hardly 
more  than  a shadow  of  what  it  originally  was.  Educa- 
tion was  widely  spread  in  Babylonia ; in  spite  of  the 
cumbrousness  and  intricacy  of  the  system  of  writing,  there 
were  few,  it  would  appear,  who  could  not  read  and  write, 
and  hence,  as  was  natural,  all  kinds  of  handwritings 
were  prevalent,  some  good  and  some  bad.  Among 
these  various  cursive  or  running  hands  were  some  which 
were  selected  for  public  documents ; but  as  the  hands 
varied,  not  only  among  individuals,  but  also  from  age 
to  age,  the  official  script  never  became  fixed  and 
permanent,  but  changed  constantly,  each  change, 
however,  bringing  with  it  increased  simplicity  in  the 
shapes  of  the  characters,  and  a greater  departure 
from  the  primitive  hieroglyphic  form.  The  earliest  con 
temporaneous  monuments  with  which  we  are  at  present 
acquainted,  are  those  recently  excavated  by  the  French 
Consul  M.  de  Sarzec  at  a place  called  Tel-Loh  ; on 
these  we  see  the  early  pictures  in  the  very  act  of 
passing  into  cuneiform  characters,  the  pictures  being 
sometimes  preserved  and  sometimes  already  lost.  A 
comparison  of  the  forms  found  at  Tel-Loh  with  those 
usually  employed  in  the  time  of  Nebuchadnezzar,  will 
show  at  a glance  what  profound  modifications  were 
undergone  by  the  cuneiform  syllabary  in  the  course  of 
its  transmission  from  generation  to  generation. 


9 6 ASSYRIA:  ITS  PRINCES,  PRIESTS,  AND  PEOPLE. 

In  contrast  to  the  Babylonians,  the  Assyrians  were  a 
nation  of  warriors  and  huntsmen,  not  of  students,  and 
with  them,  therefore,  a knowledge  of  writing  was  con- 
fined to  a particular  class,  that  of  the  scribes.  At  an 
early  period,  accordingly,  in  the  history  of  the  kingdom, 
a special  form  of  script  was  adopted  not  only  in  official 
documents,  but  in  private  documents  as  well,  and  this 
script  remained  practically  unchanged  down  to  the  fall 
of  Nineveh.  This  form  of  script  was  one  of  the  many 
simplified  forms  of  handwriting  that  were  used  in 
Babylonia,  and  it  was  fortunately  a very  clear  and  well- 
defined  one.  Now  and  then,  it  is  true,  contact  with 
Babylonia  made  an  Assyrian  king  desirous  of  imitating 
the  archaic  writing  of  Babylonia,  and  inscriptions  were 
consequently  engraved  in  florid  characters,  abounding  in 
a multiplicity  of  needless  wedges,  and  reminding  us  of 
our  modern  black-letter.  Such  ornamental  inscriptions 
are  not  numerous,  and  were  carved  only  on  stone.  The 
clay  literature  was  all  written  in  the  ordinary  Assyrian 
characters,  except  when  the  scribe  was  unable  to 
recognise  a character  in  a Babylonian  text  he  was 
copying,  and  so  reproduced  it  exactly  in  his  copy. 

The  clay  tablets  used  by  the  Assyrians  were  an 
improvement  on  those  of  Babylonia.  Instead  of  being 
merely  dried  in  the  sun,  they  were  thoroughly  baked  in 
a kiln,  holes  being  drilled  through  them  here  and  there 
to  allow  the  steam  to  escape.  As  a rule,  therefore,  the 
tablets  of  Assyria  are  smaller  than  those  of  Babylonia, 
since  there  was  always  a danger  of  a large  tablet  being 


•t-4 


An  Assyrian  Book. 

(From  the  original  in  the  British  Museum.') 


ART,  LITERATURE,  AND  SCIENCE. 


99 


broken  in  the  fire.  In  consequence  of  the  small  size  of 
the  tablets,  and  the  amount  of  text  with  which  it  was. 
often  necessary  to  cover  them,  the  characters  impressed 
upon  them  are  frequently  minute,  so  minute,  indeed,  as 
to  suggest  that  they  must  have  been  written  with  the 
help  of  a magnifying  glass.  This  supposition  is  con- 
firmed by  the  existence  of  a magnifying  lens  of  crystal 
discovered  by  Sir  A.  H.  Layard  on  the  site  of  the  library 
of  Nineveh,  and  now  in  the  British  Museum. 

A literary  people  like  the  Babylonians  needed 
libraries,  and  libraries  were  accordingly  established  at  a 
very  early  period  in  all  the  great  cities  of  the  country, 
and  plentifully  stocked  with  books  in  papyrus  and  clay. 
In  imitation  of  these  Babylonian  libraries,  libraries  were 
also  founded  in  Assyria  by  the  Assyrian  kings.  There 
was  a library  at  Assur,  and  another  at  Calah  which 
seems  to  have  been  as  old  as  the  city  itself.  But  the 
chief  library  of  Assyria  that,  in  fact,  from  which  most  of 
the  Assyrian  literature  we  possess  has  come,  was  the 
great  library  of  Nineveh  (Kouyunjik).  This  owed  its 
magnitude  and  reputation  to  Assur-bani-pal,  who  filled 
it  with  copies  of  the  plundered  books  of  Babylonia.  A 
whole  army  of  scribes  was  employed  in  it,  busily  engaged 
in  writing  and  editing  old  texts.  Assur-bani-pal  is 
never  weary  of  telling  us,  in  the  colophon  at  the  end  of 
the  last  tablet  of  a series  which  made  up  a single  work, 
that  ‘Nebo  and  Tasmit  had  given  him  broad  ears  and 
enlightened  his  eyes  so  as  to  see  the  engraved  characters 
of  the  written  tablets,  whereof  none  of  the  kings  that 

G 2 


100  ASSYRIA:  ITS  PRINCES,  PRIESTS,  AND  PEOPLE. 


had  gone  before  had  seen  this  text,  the  wisdom  of  Nebo, 
all  the  literature  of  the  library  that  exists,’  so  that  he 
had  ‘ written,  engraved,  and  explained  it  on  tablets, 
and  placed  it  within  his  palace  for  the  inspection  of 
readers.’ 

A good  deal  of  the  literature  was  of  a lexical  and 
grammatical  kind,  and  was  intended  to  assist  the 
Semitic  student  in  interpreting  the  old  Accadian 
texts.  Lists  of  characters  were  drawn  up  with  their 
pronunciation  in  Accadian  and  the  translation  into 
Assyrian  of  the  words  represented  by  them.  Since  the 
Accadian  pronunciation  of  a character  was  frequently 
the  phonetic  value  attached  to  it  by  the  Assyrians, 
these  syllabaries,  as  they  have  been  termed — in 
consequence  of  the  fact  that  the  cuneiform  characters 
denoted  syllables  and  not  letters — have  been  of  the 
greatest  possible  assistance  in  the  decipherment  of  the 
inscriptions.  Besides  the  syllabaries,  the  Semitic  scribes 
compiled  tables  of  Accadian  words  and  grammatical 
forms  with  their  Assyro-Babylonian  equivalents,  as  well 
as  lists  of  the  names  of  animals,  birds,  reptiles,  fish, 
stones,  vegetables,  medicines,  and  the  like  in  the  two 
languages.  There  are  even  geographical  and  astro- 
nomical lists,  besides  long  lists  of  Assyrian  synonyms 
and  the  titles  of  military  and  civil  officers. 

Other  tablets  contain  phrases  and  sentences  extracted 
from  some  particular  Accadian  work  and  explained  in 
Assyrian,  while  others  again  are  exercises  or  reading- 
books  intended  for  boys  at  school,  who  wore  learning 


ART,  LITERATURE,  AND  SCIENCE. 


101 


the  old  dead  language  of  Chaldea.  In;  addition  to 
these  helps  whole  texts  were  provided  with  Assyrian 
translations,  sometimes  interlinear,  sometimes  placed  in 
a parallel  column  on  the  right-hand  side  ; so  that  it 
is  not  wonderful  that  the  Assyrians  now  and  then 
attempted  to  write  in  the  extinct  Accadian,  just  as  we 
write  nowadays  in  Latin,  though  in  both  cases,  it  must 
be  confessed,  not  always  with  success. 

Accadian,  however,  was  not  the  only  language  besides 
his  own  that  the  Semitic  Babylonian  or  Assyrian  was 
required  to  know.  Aramaic  had  become  the  common 
language  of  trade  and  diplomacy,  so  that  not  only  was 
it  assumed  by  the  ministers  of  Hezekiah  that  an  official 
like  the  Rab-shakeh  or  Vizier  of  Sennacherib  could 
speak  it  as  a matter  of  course  (2  Kings  xviii.  26), 
but  even  in  trading  documents  we  find  the  Aramaic 
language  and  alphabet  used  side  by  side  with  the 
Assyrian  cuneiform.  This  common  use  of  Aramaic 
explains  how  it  was  that  the  Jews  after  the  Babylonish 
captivity  gave  up  their  own  language  in  favour  not  of 
the  Assyro-Babylonian,  but  of  the  Aramaic  of  Northern 
Syria  and  Arabia.  An  educated  Assyrian  was  thus 
expected  to  be  able  to  read  and  write  a dead  language, 
Accadian,  and  to  read,  write,  and  speak  a foreign  living 
language,  Aramaic.  In  addition  to  these  languages, 
moreover,  he  took  an  interest  in  others  which  were 
spoken  by  his  neighbours  around  him.  The  Rab- 
shakeh  of  Sennacherib  was  able  to  speak  Hebrew,  and 
tablets  have  been  discovered  giving  the  Assyrian 


102  ASSYRIA:  ITS  PRINCES,  PRIESTS,  AND  PEOPLE. 


renderings  of  lists  of  words  from  the  barbarous  dialects 
of  the  Kossaeans  in  the  mountains  of  Elam  and  of  the 
Semitic  nomads  on  the  western  side  of  the  Euphrates. 

All  the  branches  of  knowledge  known  at  the  time 
were  treated  of  in  Assyrian  literature,  though  naturally 
history,  legend,  and  poetry  occupied  a prominent  place 
in  it.  But  even  such  subjects  as  the  despatches  of 
generals  in  the  field,  or  the  copies  of  royal  corre- 
spondence found  a place  in  the  public  library.  The 
chronology  of  Assyria,  and  therewith  of  the  Old 
Testament  also,  has  been  restored  by  means  of  the  lists 
of  successive  ‘eponyms’  or  officers  after  whom  the 
years  were  named,  while  a recent  discovery  has  brought 
to  light  a table  of  Semitic  Babylonian  kings,  arranged 
in  dynasties,  which  traces  them  back  to  B.C.  2330. 

A flood  of  light  has  been  poured  on  Chaldean 
astronomy  and  astrology,  by  the  fragments  of  the 
original  work  called  ‘ The  Observations  of  Bel  ’ which  was 
translated  into  Greek  by  the  Babylonian  priest  Berdssos. 
It  consisted  of  seventy-two  books,  and  was  compiled 
for  king  Sargon  of  Accad,  whose  date  is  assigned  by 
Nabonidos  to  B.C.  3800.  Another  work  on  omens,  in 
137  books,  had  been  compiled  for  the  same  king,  and 
both  remained  to  the  last  days  of  the  Assyrian  Empire 
the  standard  treatises  on  the  subjects  with  which  they 
dealt.  To  the  same  period  we  should  probably  refer  a 
treatise  on  agriculture,  extracts  from  which  have  been 
preserved  in  a reading-book  in  Accadian  and  Assyrian. 
Here  the  songs  are  quoted  with  which  the  Accadian 


ART,  LITERATURE,  AND  SCIENCE. 


109 


ox-drivers  beguiled  their  labours  in  the  field  : * An  heifer 
am  I : to  the  cow  thou  art  yoked : the  plough’s  handle 
is  strong : lift  it  up  lift  it  up  or  again  : ‘ The  knees  are 
marching,  the  feet  are  not  resting  ; with  no  wealth  of 
thy  own  grain  thou  begettest  for  me.’  Some  of  the 
most  curious  specimens  of  this  department  of  literature 
are  the  fables,  riddles,  and  proverbs,  which  embody  the 
homely  wisdom  of  the  unofficial  classes. 

Here,  for  instance,  is  a riddle  propounded  to  Nergal 
and  the  other  gods  by  ‘ the  wise  man,’  such  as  Orientals 
still  delight  in : 

‘ What  is  (found)  in  the  house  ; what  is  (concealed) 
in  the  secret  place  ; what  is  (fixed)  in  the  foundation  of 
the  house  ; what  exists  on  the  floor  of  the  house  ; what 
is  (perceived)  in  the  lower  part  (of  the  house) ; what 
goes  down  by  the  sides  of  the  house  ; what  in  the  ditch 
of  the  house  (makes)  broad  furrows;  what  roars  like  a 
bull ; what  brays  like  an  ass  ; what  flutters  like  a sail ; 
what  bleats  like  a sheep  ; what  barks  like  a dog ; what 
growls  like  a bear  ; what  enters  into  a man  ; what  enters 
into  a woman  ?’  The  answer  is,  of  course,  the  air  or  wind. 

Among  the  most  treasured  portions  of  the  library  of 
Nineveh  was  the  poetical  literature,  comprising  epics, 
hymns  to  the  gods,  psalms  and  songs.  Fifteen  of  these 
songs,  we  are  told,  were  arranged  on  the  eastern  and 
northern  sides  of  the  building,  * on  the  western  side 
being  nine  songs  to  Assur,  Bel  the  voice  of  the 
firmament,  the  Southern  Sun,’  and  another  god.  The 
mention  of  songs  to  Assur  shows  that  there  were  some 


IIO  ASSYRIA:  ITS  FRINCES,  PRIESTS,  AND  PEOPLE. 


which  were  of  Assyrian  origin.  The  epics,  however,  all 
came  from  Babylonia,  and  were  partly  translations  from 
Accadian,  partly  independent  compositions  of  Semitic 
Babylonian  poets.  The  names  of  the  reputed  authors 
of  many  of  them  have  come  down  to  us.  Thus  the 
great  epic  of  Gisdhubar  was  ascribed  to  Sin-liki-unnini ; 
the  legend  of  Etana  to  Nis-Sin  ; the  fable  of  the  fox  to 
Ru-Merodach  the  son  of  Nitakh-Dununa. 

The  epic  of  Gisdhubar,  as  has  already  been  stated, 
contained  the  account  of  the  Deluge,  introduced  as  an 
episode  into  the  eleventh  book.  It  consisted  in  all  of 
twelve  books,  and  was  arranged  upon  an  astronomical 
principle,  the  subject-matter  of  each  of  the  books  being 
made  to  correspond  with  one  of  the  signs  of  Zodiac. 
Thus  the  fifth  book  records  the  death  of  a monstrous 
lion  at  the  hands  of  Gisdhubar,  answering  to  the 
Zodiacal  Leo  ; in  the  sixth  book  the  hero  is  vainly 
wooed  by  Istar,  the  Virgo  of  the  Zodiacal  signs;  and 
just  as  Aquarius  is  in  the  eleventh  Zodiacal  sign,  so  the 
history  of  the  Deluge  is  embodied  in  the  eleventh  book. 
There  was  a special  reason,  however,  for  this  arrange- 
ment ; Gisdhubar  himself  wras  a solar  hero.  He  seems 
originally  to  have  been  the  fire-stick  of  the  primitive 
Accadians,  and  then  the  god  or  spirit  of  the  fire  it 
produced,  eventually  in  the  Semitic  period  passing  first 
into  a form  of  the  Sun-god,  and  then  into  a solar  hero. 
His  twelve  labours  or  adventures  answer  to  the  twelve 
months  of  the  year  through  which  the  sun  moves,  like 
the  twelve  labours  of  the  Greek  Herakles.  The  latter, 


ART,  LITERATURE,  AND  SCIENCE. 


Ill 


indeed,  were  simply  the  twelve  labours  of  Gisdhubar 
transported  to  the  west.  The  Greeks  received  many 
myths  and  mythological  conceptions  from  the 
Phoenicians,  along  with  their  early  culture,  and  these 
myths  had  themselves  been  brought  by  the  Phoenicians 
from  their  original  home  in  Chaldea.  It  has  long  been 
recognised  that  Herakles  was  the  borrowed  Phoenician 
Sun-god  ; we  now  know  that  his  primitive  prototype 
had  been  adopted  by  the  Phoenicians  from  the  Accadians 
of  Babylonia.  It  is  not  strange,  therefore,  that  just  as  in 
the  Greek  myth  of  Aphrodite  and  Adonis  we  find  the 
outlines  of  the  old  Chaldean  story  of  Istarand  Tammuz, 
so  in  the  legends  of  Herakles  we  find  an  echo  of 
the  legends  of  Gisdhubar.  The  lion  destroyed  by 
Gisdhubar  is  the  lion  of  Nemea ; the  winged  bull 
made  by  Anu  to  avenge  the  slight  offered  to  Istar  is 
the  winged  bull  of  Krete  ; the  tyrant  Khumbaba,  slain 
by  Gisdhubar  in  ‘ the  land  of  pine-trees,  the  seat  of  the 
gods,  the  sanctuary  of  the  spirits  ’ is  the  tyrant  Geryon  ; 
the  gems  borne  by  the  trees  of  the  forest  beyond  ‘ the 
gateway  of  the  sun  ’ are  the  apples  of  the  Hesperides ; 
and  the  deadly  sickness  of  Gisdhubar  himself  is  but  the 
fever  sent  by  the  poisoned  tunic  of  Nessos  through 
the  veins  of  the  Greek  hero.  It  is  curious  thus  to  trace 
to  their  first  source  the  myths  which  have  made  so  deep 
an  impress  on  classical  art  and  literature.  The  indebted- 
ness of  European  culture  to  the  valley  of  the  Euphrates 
is  becoming  more  and  more  apparent  every  year. 

It  is  impossible  to  determine  the  age  of  the  great 


12  ASSYRIA:  ITS  PRINCES,  PRIESTS,  AND  PEOPLE. 


Chaldean  epic,  but  it  must  have  been  composed  subse- 
quently to  the  period  when,  through  the  precession  of 
the  equinoxes,  Aries  came  to  be  the  first  sign  of  the 
Zodiac  instead  of  Taurus,  that  is  to  say,  about  B.C.  2500. 
On  the  other  hand,  it  is  difficult  to  make  it  later  than 
B.C.  2000,  while  the  whole  character  and  texture  of  the 
poem  shows  that  it  has  been  put  together  from  older 
lays,  which  have  been  united  into  a single  whole.  The 
poem  deservedly  continued  to  be  a favourite  among  the 
Babylonians  and  Assyrians,  and  more  than  one  edition 
of  it  was  made  for  the  library  of  Assur-bani-pal.  A 
translation  of  all  the  portions  of  it  that  have  been  dis- 
covered will  be  found  in  George  Smith’s  ‘ Chaldean 
Account  of  Genesis.’ 

It  is  difficult  for  the  English  reader  to  appreciate 
justly  the  real  character  of  many  of  these  old  poems. 
The  tablets  on  which  they  are  inscribed  were  broken  in 
pieces  when  Nineveh  was  destroyed,  and  the  roof  of  the 
library  fell  in  upon  them.  A text,  therefore,  has  gene- 
rally to  be  pieced  together  from  a number  of  fragments, 
leaving  gaps  and  lacunae  which  mar  the  pleasure  of 
reading  it.  Then,  again,  the  translator  frequently  comes 
across  a word  or  phrase  which  is  new  to  him,  and  which 
he  is  consequently  obliged  to  leave  untranslated  or  to 
render  purely  conjecturally.  At  times  there  is  a lacuna 
in  the  original  text  itself.  When  the  Assyrian  scribe 
was  unable  to  read  the  tablet  he  was  copying,  either 
because  the  characters  had  been  effaced  by  time  or 
because  their  Babylonian  forms  were  unknown  to  him, 


ART,  LITERATURE,  AND  SCIENCE. 


113 

he  wrote  the  word  khibi , ‘ it  is  wanting/  and  left  a blank 
in  his  text  It  is  not  wonderful,  therefore;  that  what  is 
really  a fine  piece  of  literature  reads  tamely  and  poorly 
in  its  English  dress,  more  especially  when  we  remember 
that  the  decipherer  is  compelled  to  translate  literally, 
and  cannot  have  recourse  to  those  idiomatic  paraphrases 
which  are  permissible  when  we  are  dealing  with  known 
languages. 

But  it  must  be  confessed  that  many  of  the  best  com- 
positions of  Babylonia  are  spoilt  for  us  by  the  references 
to  a puerile  superstition,  and.  the  ever-present  dread  of 
witchcraft  and  magic  which  they  contain.  A good 
example  of  this  curious  mixture  of  exalted  thought  and 
debasing  superstition  is  the  following  hymn  to  the  Sun- 
god  : — 

‘ O Sun-god,  king  of  heaven  and  earth,  director  of  things  above 
and  below, 

O Sun-god,  thou  that  clothest  the  dead  with  life,  delivered  by 
thy  hands, 

judge  unbribed,  director  of  mankind, 

supreme  in  mercy  for.  him  that  is  in  trouble, 

bidding  the  child  and  offspring  come  forth,  light  of  the  world, 

creator  of  all  thy  land,  the  Sun-god  art  thou  ! 

O Sun-god,  when  the  bewitchment  for  many  days, 
is  bound  behind  me  and  there  is  no  deliverer, 
the  expulsion  of  the  curse  and  return  of.  health  are  brought 
about,  (by  thee). 

Among  mankind,  the  flock  of  the  god  Ner,  whatever  be  their 
names,  he  selects  me  : 


II 


1 14  ASSYRIA  : ITS  PRINCES,  PRIESTS,  AND  PEOPLE. 


after  trouble  he  fills  me  with  rest, 
and  day  and  night  I stand  undarkened. 

In  the  anguish  of  my  heart  and  the  sickness  of  my  body  there 
is  . . . 

0 father  supreme,  I am  debased  and  wa1!:  to  and  fro. 

In  misery  and  affliction  I held  myself  (?). 

My  littleness  (?)  I know  not,  the  sin  I have  committed  I knew 
not. 

1 am  small  and  he  is  great : 

The  walls  of  my  god  may  I pass. 

O bird  stand  still  and  hear  the  hound ! 

O Sun-god  stand  still  and  hear  me  ! 

The  name  of  the  evil  bewitchment  that  has  been  brought 
about  overpower, 

whether  the  bewitchment  of  my  father,  or  the  bewitchment  of 
my  begetter, 

or  the  bewitchment  of  the  seven  branches  of  the  house  of  my 
father, 

or  the  bewitchment  of  my  family  and  my  slaves, 
or  the  bewitchment  of  my  free-born  women  and  concubines, 
or  the  bewitchment  of  the  dead  and  the  living,  or  the  bewitch- 
ment of  the  adult  and  the  suckling  (?), 
or  the  bewitchment  of  my  father  and  of  him  who  is  not  my 
father. 

To  father  and  mother  be  thou  a father,  and  to  brother  and 
child  be  thou  a father. 

To  friend  and  neighbour  be  thou  a father,  and  to  handmaid 
and  man  be  thou  a father. 

To  the  field  thou  hast  made  and  thy  . . , 

father. 


be  thou  a 


ART,  LITERATURE,  AND  SCIENCE.  1 1 5 

May  the  name  of  my  god  be  a father  where  there  is  no  justice. 

To  mankind,  the  flock  of  the  god  Ner,  whatever  be  their  names, 
who  are  in  field  and  city, 

speak,  O Sun-god,  mighty  lord,  and  bid  the  evil  enchantment 
be  at  rest.’ 

Even  the  science  of  the  Babylonians  and  their  Assy- 
rian disciples  was  not  free  from  superstition.  Astronomy 
was  mixed  with  astrology,  and  their  observation  of 
terrestrial  phenomena  led  only  to  an  elaborate  system 
of  augury.  The  false  assumption  was  made  that  an 
event  was  caused  by  another  which  had  immediately 
preceded  it ; and  hence  it  was  laid  down  that  whenever 
two  events  had  been  observed  to  follow  one  upon  the 
other,  the  recurrence  of  the  first  would  cause  the  other 
to  follow  again.  The  assumption  was  an  illustration  of 
the  well-known  fallacy : ‘ Post  hoc,  ergo  propter  hoc.” 
It  produced  both  the  pseudo-science  of  astrology  and 
the  pseudo-science  of  augury. 

The  standard  work  on  astronomy,  as  has  already  been 
noted,  was  that  called  ‘ The  Observations  of  Bel/  com- 
piled originally  for  the  library  of  Sargon  I at  Accad. 
Additions  were  made  to  it  from  time  to  time,  the  chief 
object  of  the  work  being  to  notice  the  events  which 
happened  after  each  celestial  phenomenon.  Thus  the 
occurrences  which  at  different  periods  followed  a solar 
eclipse  on  a particular  day  were  all  duly  introduced 
into  the  text  and  piled,  as  it  were,  one  upon  the  other. 
The  table  of  contents  prefixed  to  the  work  showed  that 


H 2 


Il6  ASSYRIA:  ITS  PRINCES,  PRIESTS,  AND  PEOPLE. 

it  treated  of  various  matters — eclipses  of  the  sun  and 
moon,  the  conjunction  of  the  sun  and  moon,  the  phases 
of  Venus  and  Mars,  the  position  of  the  pole-star,  the 
changes  of  the  weather,  the  appearance  of  comets,  or,  as 
they  are  called,  ‘ stars  with  a tail  behind  and  a corona  in 
front,’  and  the  like.  The  immense  collection  of  records 
of  eclipses  indicates  the  length  of  time  during  which 
observations  of  the  heavens  had  been  carried  on.  As  it 
is  generally  stated  whether  a solar  eclipse  had  happened 
‘ according  to  calculation  ’ or  ‘ contrary  to  calculation,’  it 
is  clear  that  the  Babylonians  were  acquainted  at  an 
early  date  with  the  periodicity  of  eclipses  of  the  sun. 
The  beginning  of  the  year  was  determined  by  the 
position  of  the  star  Dilgan  (a  Aurigm)  in  relation  to 
the  new  moon  at  the  vernal  equinox,  and  the  night 
was  originally  divided  into  three  watches.  Subsequently 
the  kasbu  or  ‘double  hour’  was  introduced  to  mark 
time,  twelve  kasbu  being  equivalent  to  a night  and  day. 
Time  itself  was  measured  by  a clepsydra  or  water-clock, 
as  well  as  by  a gnomon  or  dial.  The  dial  set  up  by 
Ahaz  at  Jerusalem  (2  Kings  xx.  n)  was  doubtless  one 
of  the  fruits  of  his  intercourse  with  the  Assyrians. 

The  Zodiacal  signs  had  been  marked  out  and  named 
at  that  remote  period  when  the  sun  was  still  in  Taurus 
at  the  beginning  of  spring,  and  the  equator  had  been 
divided  into  sixty  degrees.  The  year  was  correspond- 
ingly divided  into  twelve  months,  each  of  thirty  days, 
intercalary  months  being  counted  in  by  the  priests  when 
necessary.  The  British  Museum  possesses  fragments  of 


ART,  LITERATURE,  AND  SCIENCE. 


II  7 


a planisphere  from  Nineveh,  representing  the  sky  at  the 
time  of  the  vernal  equinox,  the  constellation  of  Tam- 
muz  or  Orion  being  specially  noticeable  upon  it.  Another 
tablet  contains  a table  of  lunar  longitudes. 

With  all  this  attention  to  astronomical  matters  it  is 
not  surprising  that  every  great  city  boasted  of  an 
observatory,  erected  on  the  summit  of  a lofty  tower. 
Astronomers  were  appointed  by  the  state  to  take  charge 
of  these  observatories,  and  to  send  in  fortnightly  reports 
to  the  king.  Here  are  specimens  of  them,  the  first  ol 
which  is  dated  B.C.  649: — ‘To  the  king,  my  lord,  thy 
servant  Istar-iddin-pal,  one  of  the  chief  astronomers  of 
Arbela.  May  there  be  peace  to  the  king,  my  lord,  may 
Nebo,  Merodach,  and  Istar  of  Arbela,  be  favourable  to 
the  king,  my  lord.  On  the  twenty-ninth  day  we  kept  a 
watch.  The  observatory  was  covered  with  cloud  : the 
moon  we  did  not  see.  (Dated)  the  month  Sebat,  the 
first  day,  the  eponymy  of  Bel-kharran-Sadua.’  ‘ To 
the  king,  my  lord,  thy  servant  Abil-Istar.  May  there 
be  peace  to  the  king,  my  lord.  May  Nebo  and  Mero- 
dach be  propitious  to  the  king,  my  lord.  May  the  great 
gods  grant  unto  the  king,  my  lord,  long  days,  soundness 
of  body,  and  joy  of  heart.  On  the  twenty-seventh  day 
(of  the  month)  the  moon  disappeared.  On  the  twenty- 
eighth,  twenty-ninth,  and  thirtieth  days,  we  kept  a 
watch  for  the  eclipse  of  the  sun.  But  the  sun  did  not 
pass  into  eclipse.  On  the  first  day  the  moon  was  seen 
during  the  day.  During  the  month  Tammuz  (June)  it 
was  above  the  planet  Mercury,  as  I have  already  re- 


1 1 8 ASSYRIA:  ITS  PRINCES,  PRIESTS,  AND  PEOPLE. 


ported  to  the  king.  During  the  period  when  the  moon 
is  called  Anu  (i.e.,  from  the  first  to  the  fifth  days  of  the 
lunar  month),  it  was  seen  declining  in  the  orbit  of 
Arcturus.  Owing  to  the  rain  the  horn  was  not  visible. 
Such  is  my  report.  During  the  period  when  the  moon 
was  Anu,  I sent  to  the  king,  my  lord,  the  following 
account  of  its  conjunction : — It  was  stationary  and 
visible  below  the  star  of  the  chariot.  During  the  period 
when  the  moon  is  called  Bel  (i.e.,  from  the  tenth  to  the 
fifteenth  day),  it  became  full ; to  the  star  of  the  chariot 
it  approached.  Its  conjunction  (with  the  star)  was  pre- 
vented ; but  its  conjunction  with  Mercury,  during  the 
period  when  it  was  Anu,  of  which  I have  already  sent  a 
report  to  the  king,  my  lord,  was  not  prevented.  May 
the  king,  my  lord,  have  peace  ! ’ 

Astronomical  observations  imply  a knowledge  of 
mathematics,  and  in  this  the  Babylonians  and  Assy- 
rians seem  to  have  excelled.  Tables  of  squares  and 
cubes  have  been  found  at  Senkereh,  the  ancient  Larsa, 
and  a series  of  geometrical  figures  used  for  augural 
purposes  presupposes  a sort  of  Babylonian  Euclid. 
The  mathematical  unit  was  60,  which  was  understood 
as  a multiple  when  high  numbers  had  to  be  expressed, 
IV,  for  example,  standing  for  (4  x 60  =)  240.  Similarly, 
60  was  the  unwritten  denominator  of  fractional  num- 
bers. The  plan  of  an  estate  outside  the  gate  of  Zamama 
at  Babylon,  and  belonging  to  the  time  of  Nebuchad- 
nezzar, has  been  discovered,  while  the  famous  Hanging 
Gardens  of  that  city  were  watered  by  means  of  a screw. 


ART,  LITERATURE,  AND  SCIENCE.  II9 

Medicine  also  was  in  a more  advanced  state  than 
might  have  been  expected.  Fragments  of  an  old  work 
on  medicine  have  been  found,  which  show  that  all 
known  diseases  had  been  classified,  and  their  symptoms 
described,  the  medical  mixtures  considered  appropriate 
to  each  being  compounded  and  prescribed  quite  in 
modern  fashion.  Here  is  one  of  them  : ‘ For  a diseased 
gall-bladder,  which  devours  the  top  of  a man’s  heart 
like  a ring  (?)  . . . within  the  sick  (part),  we  pre- 

pare cypress-extract,  goats’  milk,  palm-wine,  barley,  the 
flesh  of  an  ox  and  bear,  and  the  wine  of  the  cellarer,  in 
order  that  the  sick  man  may  live.  Half  an  ephah  of 
clear  honey,  half  an  ephah  of  cypress-extract,  half  an 
ephah  of  gamgam  herbs,  half  an  ephah  of  linseed,  half  an 
ephah  of  . . . , half  an  ephah  of  imdi  herbs,  half  an 

ephah  of  the  seed  of  tarrati , half  an  ephah  of  calves’  milk, 
half  an  ephah  of  semi  wood,  half  an  ephah  of  tik  powder, 
half  an  ephah  of  the  ...  of  the  river-god,  half  an 
ephah  of  usu  wood,  half  an  ephah  of  mountain  medicine, 
half  an  ephah  of  the  flesh  (?)  of  a dove,  half  an  ephah  of 
the  seed  of  the  . . .,  half  an  ephah  of  the  corn  of 

the  field,  ten  measures  of  the  juice  of  a cut  herb,  ten 
measures  of  the  tooth  of  the  sea  (sea-weed),  one  ephah 
of  putrid  flesh  (?),  one  ephah  of  dates,  one  ephah  of 
palm-wine  and  insik , and  one  ephah  of  the  flesh  (?)  of 
the  entrails  ; slice  and  cut  up ; or  mix  as  a mixture, 
after  first  stirring  it  with  a reed.  On  the  fourth  day 
observe  (the  sick  man’s)  countenance.  If  it  shows  a 
white  appearance  his  heart  is  cured  ; if  it  shows  a dark 


120  ASSYRIA:  ITS  PRINCES,  PRIESTS,  AND  PEOPLE. 


appearance  his  heart  is  still  devoured  by  the  fire ; if  it 
shows  a yellow  appearance  during  the  day,  the  patient’s 
recovery  is  assured  ; if  it  shows  a black  appearance  he 
will  grow  worse  and  will  not  live.  For  the  swelling  (?), 
slice  (the  flesh  of)  a cow  which  has  entered  the  stall  and 
has  been  slaughtered  during  the  day.  Seethe  it  in  water 
and  calves’  milk.  Drink  the  result  in  palm-wine.  Drink 
it  during  the  day.’ 

Generally,  however,  the  prescriptions  are  not  so 
elaborate  as  this.  They  are  more  usually  of  this  nature  : 
‘ For  low  spirits,  slice  the  root  of  the  destiny  tree,  the 
root  of  the  susum  tree,  two  or  three  other  vegetable 
compounds,  and  the  tongue  of  a dog.  Drink  the  mix- 
ture either  in  water  or  in  palm-wine.’ 

Even  medical  science,  however,  was  invaded  by  super- 
stition. In  place  of  trying  the  doctor’s  prescription,  a 
patient  often  had  the  choice  allowed  him  of  having 
recourse  to  charms  and  exorcisms.  Thus  the  medical 
work  itself  permits  him  to  ‘place  an  incantation  on  the 
big  toe  of  the  left  foot  and  cause  it  to  remain  ’ there, 
the  incantation  being  as  follows : ‘ O wind,  my  mother, 
wind,  wind,  the  handmaid  of  the  gods  art  thou  ; O wind 
among  the  storm-birds  ; yea,  the  water  dost  thou  make 
stream  down,  and  with  the  gods  thy  brothers  liftest  up 
the  glory  of  thy  wisdom.’  At  other  times  a witch  or 
sorceress  was  called  in,  and  told  to  ‘bind  a cord  twice 
seven  times,  binding  it  on  the  sick  man’s  neck  and  on 
his  feet  like  fetters,  and  while  he  lies  in  his  bed  to 
pour  pure  water  over  him.’  Instead  of  the  knotted  cord 


ART,  LITERATURE,  AND  SCIENCE.  12 1 

verses  from  a sacred  book  might  be  employed,  just  as 
phylacteries  were,  and  still  are,  among  the  Jews.  Thus 
we  read  : ‘ In  the  night-time  let  a verse  from  a good 
tablet  be  placed  on  the  head  of  the  sick  man  in  bed.’ 
The  word  translated  ‘verse’  is  masal , the  Hebrew 
mashal \ which  literally  signifies  a ‘ proverb  ’ or  ‘ parable.’ 
It  is  curious  to  find  the  witch  by  the  side  of  the  wizard 
in  Babylonia.  ‘ The  wise  woman,’  however,  was  held  in 
great  repute  there,  and  just  as  the  witches  of  Europe 
were  supposed  to  fly  through  the  air  on  a broomstick  so 
it  was  believed  that  the  witches  of  Babylonia  could 
perform  the  same  feat  with  the  help  of  a wooden  staff. 


122 


CHAPTER  V. 

Manners  and  Customs;  Trade  and  Government. 

The  monuments  of  Assyria  do  not  give  us  the  same 
assistance  as  those  of  Egypt  in  learning  about  the 
manners  and  customs  of  its  inhabitants.  We  find  there 
no.  tombs  whose  pictured  walls  set  before  us  the  daily 
life  and  doings  of  the  people.  We  have  to  acquire  our 
knowledge  from  the  bas-reliefs  of  the  royal  palaces, 
which  represent  to  us  rather  the  pomp  of  the  court  and 
the  conquest  of  foreign  nations  than  scenes  taken  from 
ordinary  Assyrian  life.  It  is  only  incidentally  that  the 
manners  and  customs  of  the  lower  classes  are  depicted. 
It  is  true  that  we  can  learn  a good  deal  from  the 
contract-tablets  and  other  kinds  of  what  may  be  called 
the  private  literature  of  Babylonia  and  Assyria.  At 
present,  however,  but  a small  portion  of  these  has  been 
examined,  and  a literature  can  never  paint  so  fully  and 
distinctly  the  manners  and  customs  of  the  day  as  the 
picture  or  sculpture  on  the  wall.  It  is  only  in  times 
comparatively  modern  that  the  novelist  has  sought  to 
give  a faithful  portrait  of  the  life  of  the  peasant  and 
artisan. 

The  dress  of  the  upper  classes  in  Assyria  did  not 
differ  essentially  from  that  of  the  well-to-do  Oriental  of 


MANNERS  AND  CUSTOMS. 


123 


to-day.  In  time  of  peace  the  king  was  dressed  in  a robe 
which  reached  to  the  ankles,  bound  round  the  waist 
with  a broad  belt,  while  a mantle  was  thrown  over  his 
shoulders,  and  a tiara  or  fillet  was  worn  on  his  head. 
The  tiara  sometimes  resembled  the  triple  tiara  of  the 
Pope,  sometimes  was  of  cone-like  shape,  and  the  fillet 
was  furnished  with  two  long  bandelettes  which  fell 
down  behind.  The  robe  and  mantle  were  alike  richly 
embroidered  and  edged  with  fringes.  The  arms  were 
left  bare,  except  in  so  far  as  they  could  be  covered  by 
the  mantle,  and  a heavy  pair  of  bracelets  encircled  each, 
the  workmanship  of  the  jewelry  being  similar  to  that 
of  the  chain  which  was  worn  round  the  neck.  The  feet 
were  shod  with  sandals  which  had  a raised  part  behind 
to  protect  the  heels,  and  they  were  fastened  to  the  feet 
by  a ring  through  which  the  great  toe  passed,  and  a 
latchet  over  the  instep.  Sandals  of  precisely  the  same 
character  are  still  used  in  Mesopotamia.  The  monarch’s 
dress  in  war  was  similar  to  that  used  in  time  of  peace, 
except  that  he  carried  a belt  for  daggers,  while  a fringed 
apron  took  the  place  of  the  mantle.  Boots  laced  in 
front  were  also  sometimes  substituted  for  the  sandals. 

The  upper  classes,  and  more  especially  the  officials 
about  court,  wore  a costume  similar  to  that  of  the  king, 
only  of  course,  less  rich  and  costly.  In  all  cases  they 
were  distinguished  by  the  long  fringed  sleeveless  robe 
which  descended  to  the  ankles.  The  dress  of  the 
soldiers  and  of  the  common  people  generally  was  quite 
different.  It  consisted  only  of  the  tunic,  over  which  in 


124  ASSYRIA:  ITS  PRINCES,  PRIESTS,  AND  PEOPLE. 


all  probability  the  long  robe  of  the  wealthy  was  worn, 
and  which  did  not  quite  reach  the  knees.  Sometimes  a 
sort  of  jacket  was  put  on  above  it,  and,  in  a few 
instances,  a simple  kilt  seems  to  take  its  place.  The  kilt 
was  frequently  worn  under  the  tunic,  which  was  fastened 
round  the  waist  by  a girdle  or  sword-belt.  The  arms, 
legs,  and  feet,  were  bare.  Some  of  the  soldiers,  how- 
ever, wore  sandals,  and  others,  more  particularly  the 
cavalry,  wore  boots,  which  were  laced  in  front,  and  came 
half  way  up  the  leg.  The  upper  part  of  the  legs  was 
occasionally  protected  by  drawers  of  leather  or  chain- 
armour,  and  we  even  find  tunics  made  of  the  same 
materials.  Helmets  were  also  employed,  but  the 
common  soldier  usually  covered  his  head  with  a simple 
skull-cap. 

The  dress  of  the  women  consisted  of  a long  tunic  and 
mantle,  and  a fillet  for  confining  the  hair. 

The  king  and  his  officers  rode  in  chariots  even  when 
on  a campaign.  In  crossing  mountains  the  chariots 
often  had  to  be  carried  on  the  shoulders  of  men  or 
animals,  their  wheels  being  sometimes  first  taken  off  for 
the  purpose.  The  chariot  was  large  enough  to  contain 
not  only  the  king  but  an  umbrella-bearer  and  a cha- 
rioteer as  well.  The  latter  held  the  reins  in  both  hands, 
each  rein  being  single  and  fastened  to  either  side  of  a 
snaffle-like  bit.  When  in  the  field  the  royal  chariot  was 
followed  by  a bow-bearer  and  a quiver-bearer,  as  well 
as  by  led  horses,  intended  to  assist  the  monarch  to 
escape,  should  the  fortune  of  battle  turn  against  him. 


MANNERS  AND  CUSTOMS. 


125 


The  chariot  was  drawn  by  two  horses,  a third  horse 
being  usually  attached  to  it  by  a thong  in  order  to 


Assyrian  King  in  his  Chariot. 


take  the  place  of  one  of  the  other  two  if  an  accident 
occurred. 

Beside  the  chariots  the  army  was  accompanied  by 
a corps  of  cavalry.  In  the  time  of  the  first  Assyrian 
Empire  the  cavalry-soldier  rode  on  the  bare  back  of  the 
horse,  with  his  knees  crouched  up  in  front  of  him ; 
subsequently  saddles  were  introduced,  though  not 
stirrups. 

The  cavalry  was  divided  into  two  corps- — the  heavy 
and  the  light-armed.  The  latter  were  armed  only  with 


126  ASSYRIA:  ITS  PRINCES,  PRIESTS,  AND  PEOPLE. 

the  bow  and  arrow  and  a guard  for  the  wrist,  and  were 
chiefly  employed  in  skirmishing.  Most  of  the  archers, 
however,  belonged  to  the  infantry.  The  Assyrians  were 
particularly  skilled  in  the  use  of  the  bow,  and  their 
superiority  in  war  was  probably  in  great  measure  due  to 
it.  Besides  the  bow  they  employed  the  spear,  the  short 
dagger  or  dirk,  and  the  sword,  which  was  of  two  kinds. 
The  ordinary  kind  was  long  and  straight,  the  less  usual 
kind  being  curved,  like  a scimetar.  For  defence,  round 
shields,  of  no  great  size,  were  carried. 

Only  the  king  and  the  chief  nobles  were  allowed  the 
luxury  of  a tent.  The  common  soldier  had  to  sleep  on 
the  ground,  wrapped  up  in  a blanket  or  plaid.  The 
tent  was  probably  of  felt,  and  had  an  opening  in  the 
centre  through  which  the  smoke  of  a fire  might  escape. 
Not  only,  however,  was  a sleeping-tent  carried  for  the 
king,  a cooking-tent  was  carried  also.  So  also  was  the 
royal  chair,  called  a nimedu , on  which  the  monarch  sat 
when  stationary  in  camp.  The  chair  may  be  seen  in  the 
bas-relief,  now  in  the  British  Museum,  which  represents 
Sennacherib  sitting  upon  it  in  front  of  the  captured 
town  of  Lachish.  Above  is  a short  inscription  which 
tells  us  that  ‘ Sennacherib,  the  king  of  legions,  the  king 
of  Assyria,  sat  on  an  upright  throne,  and  the  spoil  of  the 
city  of  Lachish  passed  before  him.’ 

There  were  various  means  for  assaulting  a hostile 
town.  Sometimes  scaling-ladders  were  used,  sometimes 
the  walls  were  undermined  with  crowbars  and  pickaxes  ; 
sometimes  a battering-ram  was  employed  armed  with 


MANNERS  AND  CUSTOMS. 


127 


one  or  two  spear-like  projections ; sometimes  fire  was 
applied  to  the  enemy’s  gates.  Other  engines  are  men- 


Siege  of  a City. 


tioned  in  the  inscriptions,  but  as  they  have  not  been 
found  depicted  on  the  monuments  it  is  difficult  to 
identify  them. 

The  barbarities  which  followed  the  capture  of  a town 
would  be  almost  incredible,  were  they  not  a subject  of 
boast  in  the  inscriptions  which  record  them.  Assur- 
natsir-pal’s  cruelties  were  especially  revolting.  Pyramids 
of  human  heads  marked  the  path  of  the  conqueror  ; 
boys  and  girls  were  burned  alive  or  reserved  for  a worse 
fate  ; men  were  impaled,  flayed  alive,  blinded,  or  de- 
prived of  their  hands  and  feet,  of  their  ears  and  noses, 
while  the  women  and  children  were,  carried  into  slavery, 
the  captured  city  plundered  and  reduced  to  ashes,  and 
the  trees  in  its  neighbourhood  cut  down.  During  the 
second  Assyrian  Empire  warfare  was  a little  more 
humane,  but  the  most  horrible  tortures  were  still  exer- 


128  ASSYRIA:  ITS  PRINCES,  PRIESTS,  AND  PEOPLE. 

cised  upon  the  vanquished.  How  deeply-seated  was  the 
thirst  for  blood  and  vengeance  on  an  enemy  is  exempli- 
fied in  a bas-relief  which  represents  Assur-bani-pal  and 
his  queen  feasting  in  their  garden  while  the  head  of  the 
conquered  Elamite  king  hangs  from  a tree  above. 

The  Assyrians  made  use  of  chairs,  tables,  and  couches. 
A piece  of  sculpture  from  Khorsabad  introduces  us  to 
a scene  in  which  the  priests  of  the  king  are  seated,  two 
on  a chair  on  either  side  of  a four-legged  table.  Their 
sandals  are  removed,  as  was  the  custom  among  the 
Greeks  when  eating.  In  the  luxurious  days  of  Assur- 
bani-pal  the  couch  seems  to  have  partially  taken  the 
place  of  the  chair,  since  in  the  scene  alluded  to  above 
the  king  is  depicted  reclining,  though  the  queen  sits  in  a 
chair  by  his  side.  The  number  of  different  kinds  of 
food  mentioned  in  the  inscriptions  seems  to  imply  that 
the  Assyrians  were  fond  of  good  living.  The  common 
people,  it  is  true,  lived  mostly  on  bread,  fruit,  and  vege- 
tables ; but  the  monuments  show  us  soldiers  engaged  in 
slaughtering  and  cooking  oxen  and  sheep. 

Wine  was  the  usual  beverage  at  a banquet,  and  the 
Assyrians  appear  to  have  resembled  the  Persians  in 
their  indulgence  in  it.  Various  sorts  of  wine  are 
enumerated  in  the  inscriptions,  most  of  which  were 
imported  from  abroad.  Among  the  most  highly  prized 
was  the  wine  of  Khilbun  or  Helbon,  which  is  mentioned 
in  Ezek.  xxvii.  18,  and  was  grown  near  Damascus  at  a 
village  still  called  Halbun.  Besides  grape-wine,  palm- 
wine,  made  from  dates,  was  brought  from  Babylon,  and 


MANNERS  AND  CUSTOMS. 


I29 


beer,  milk,  cream,  butter  or  ghee,  and  oil,  were  all  much 
used.  At  a feast  the  wine  was  ladled  out  of  a large 
vase  into  cups,  which  were  then  presented  to  the 
guests. 

The  table  was  ornamented  with  flowers,  and  musicians 
were  hired  to  amuse  the  banqueters.  No  less  than 
seven  or  eight  different  musical  instruments  were  known, 
among  them  the  harp,  the  lyre,  and  the  tambourine. 
The  lyre  seems  to  have  been  specially  employed  at 
feasts,  and  the  harp  for  the  performance  of  sacred 
music.  The  instrumental  music  was  at  times  accom- 
panied by  the  voice,  and  bands  of  musicians  celebrated 
the  triumphant  return  of  the  king  from  war. 

Polygamy  was  permitted — at  all  events  to  the  monarch 
— and  the  palace  was  accordingly  guarded  by  a whole 
army  of  eunuchs.  They  were  generally  in  attendance 
on  the  sovereign,  like  the  scribes  whose  offices  were 
continually  needed  in  both  peace  and  war.  Another 
attendant  must  not  be  forgotten — the  servant  who  stood 
behind  the  king  armed  with  a fly-flap,  and  was  almost 
a necessity  in  hot  weather.  Considering  the  number  of 
captives  carried  away  every  year  to  Assyria  in  the 
successful  campaigns  of  its  rulers,  slaves  must  have  been 
very  plentiful  in  Nineveh.  Indeed,  after  the  Arabian 
campaign  of  Assur-bani-pal  we  are  told  that  a camel 
was  sold  for  half  a shekel  of  silver,  and  that  a man  was 
worth  a correspondingly  small  sum. 

Next  to  hunting  men  the  chief  employment  and 
delight  of  an  Assyrian  king  was  to  hunt  wild  beasts. 

I 


130  ASSYRIA:  ITS  PRINCES,  PRIESTS,  AND  PEOPLE. 


Tiglath-Pileser  I had  hunted  elephants  in  the  land  of 
the  Hittites,  as  the  Egyptian  Pharaohs  had  done  before 
him ; subsequently  the  extinction  of  the  elephant  in 
Western  Asia  caused  his  successors  to  content  them- 
selves with  lesser  game.  The  reem  or  wild  bull  and  the 
lion  became  their  favourite  sport,  smaller  animals  like 
the  gazelle,  the  hare,  and  the  wild  ass  being  left  to  their 
subjects  to  pursue.  It  was  not  until  the  reign  of  Assur- 
bani-pal  that  the  lion-hunt  ceased  to  be  a dangerous  and 
exciting  pastime.  With  Esar-haddon,  however,  the  old 
race  of  warrior  kings  had  come  to  an  end,  and  the  new 
king  introduced  a new  style  of  sport.  The  lions  were 
now  caught  and  kept  in  cages,  until  they  were  turned 
out  for  a royal  battue.  As  they  had  to  be  whipped  into 
activity,  neither  the  monarch  nor  his  companions  could 
have  run  much  risk  of  being  harmed. 

The  Assyrians  were  not  an  agricultural  people  like 
the  Babylonians.  .Nevertheless,  the  kings  had  their 
paradises  or  parks,  and  the  wealthier  classes  their 
gardens  or  shrubberies.  The  garden  was  planted  with 
trees  rather  than  with  flowers  or  herbs,  and  afforded  a 
shady  retreat  during  the  summer  months.  Tiglath- 
Pileser  I had  even  established  a sort  of  botanical  garden, 
in  which  he  tried  to  acclimatise  some  of  the  trees  he 
had  met  with  in  his  campaigns.  He  tells  us  of  it : * As 
for  the  cedar,  the  likkarin  tree,  and  the  almug,  from  the 
countries  I have  conquered,  these  trees,  which  none  of 
the  kings  my  fathers  that  were  before  me  had  planted, 
I took,  and  in  the  gardens  of  my  land  I planted,  and  by 


MANNERS  AND  CUSTOMS. 


131 

the  name  of  garden  I called  them  ; whatsoever  in  my 
land  there  was  not  I took,  and  I established  the  gardens 
of  Assyria/  The  gardens  were  abundantly  watered 
from  the  river  or  canal,  by  the  side  of  which  they  were 
usually  planted.  Summer-houses  were  built  in  the 
midst  of  them,  and  as  early  as  the  time  of  Sennacherib 
we  meet  with  a ‘ hanging  garden,’  grown  on  the  roof  of 
a building. 

Fishing  was  carried  on  with  a line  merely,  and  with- 
out a rod.  The  fisherman  sat  on  the  bank,  or  else 
swam  in  the  water,  supporting  himself  on  an  inflated 
skin. 

These  inflated  skins  were  largely  used  in  warfare  for 
conveying  troops  and  animals  across  a stream.  The 
chief  officers,  along  with  their  chariots  and  commissariat, 
were  ferried  across  in  boats,  but  the  soldiers  had  to  strip, 
and  with  the  help  of  the  skins  convey  themselves,  their 
arms,  the  horses,  and  other  baggage  to  the  opposite 
bank. 

At  times  a pontoon-bridge  of  boats  was  constructed, 
at  other  times  the  Assyrian  army  was  fortunate  enough 
to  meet  with  bridges  of  stone  or  wood.  In  fact,  such 
bridges  existed  on  all  the  main  roads  which  it  traversed. 
Western  Asia  was  more  thickly  populated  then  than  is 
at  present  the  case,  and  the  roads  were  not  only  more 
numerous  than  they  are  to-day,  but  better  kept.  Hence 
the  ease  and  rapidity  with  which  large  bodies  of  men 
were  moved  by  the  Assyrian  kings  from  one  part  of 
Asia  to  another.  Where  a road  did  not  already  exist,  it 


132  ASSYRIA:  ITS  PRINCES,  PRIESTS,  AND  PEOPLE. 


was  made  by  the  advancing  army,  timber  being  cleared 
and  a highway  thrown  up  for  the  purpose. 

As  road-makers  the  Assyrians  seem  to  have  antici- 
pated the  Romans.  Both  their  military  and  their 
•trading  instincts  led  them  in  this  direction.  It  was  only 
when  they  came  to  the  water  that  their  career  was 
checked.  Excellent  as  they  were  as  soldiers,  they  never 
became  sailors.  The  boats  of  the  Tigris  and  Euphrates 
were  either  rafts  or  circular  coracles  of  skins  stretched 
on  a wooden  framework.  When  Sennacherib  wished  to 
attack  the  Chaldeans  of  Bit-Yagina  in  their  place  of 
refuge  on  the  Persian  Gulf,  he  had  to  transport  Phoeni- 
cians from  the  west  to  build  his  galleys,  and  to  navigate 
them  afterwards.  It  was  the  Babylonians  ‘whose  cry 
was  in  their  ships  ; ’ the  Assyrians  fought  and  traded  on 
shore. 

It  was  not  until  the  rise  of  the  Second  Assyrian 
Empire  that  the  trade  of  Assyria  became  important. 
The  earlier  kings  had  gone  forth  to  war  for  the  sake  of 
booty  or  out  of  mere  caprice  ; Tiglath-Pileser  II  and  his 
successors  aimed  at  getting  the  commerce  of  the  world 
into  the  hands  <of  their  own  subjects.  The  fall  of 
Carchemish  and  the  overthrow  of  the  Phoenician  cities 
enabled  them  to  carry  out  their  design.  Nineveh 
became  a busy  centre  of  trade,  from  whence  caravans 
went  and  returned  north  and  south,  east  and  west. 
The  old  Hittite  standard  of  weight,  called  ‘ the  maneh 
of  Carchemish  ’ by  the  Assyrians,  was  made  the  ordinary 
legal  standard,  and  Aramaic  became  the  common  lan- 


MANNERS  AND  CUSTOMS. 


133 


guage  of  trade.  Not  unfrequently  an  Aramaic  docket 
accompanies  an  Assyrian  contract  tablet,  stating  briefly 
what  were  its  contents  and  the  names  of  the  chief  con- 
tracting parties.  These  contract  tablets  have  to  do  with 
the  sale  and  lease  of  houses,  slaves,  and  other  property, 
as  well  as  with  the  amount  of  interest  to  be  paid  upon 
loans.  We  learn  from  them  that  the  rate  of  interest 
was  usually  as  low  as  four  per  cent.,  and  when  objects 
like  bronze  were  borrowed  as  three  per  cent.  House 
property  naturally  varied  in  value.  A house  sold  at 
Nineveh  on  the  sixteenth  of  Sivan  or  May,  B.C.  692, 
fetched  one  maneh  of  silver  or  £9,  the  average  price  of 
a slave.  Thus,  three  Israelites,  as  Dr.  Oppert  believes, 
were  sold  by  a Phoenician  on  the  twentieth  of  Ab  or 
July,  B.C.  709,  for  ^27,  retractation  or  annulment  of  the 
sale  being  subject  to  a penalty  of  about  ^230,  part  of 
which  was  to  go  to  the  temple  of  Istar  of  Arbela. 
Twenty  years  later,  however,  as  many  as  seven  slaves, 
among  them  an  Israelite,  Hoshea,  and  his  two  wives, 
were  sold  for  the  same  price,  while  we  find  a girl 
handed  over  by  her  parents  to  an  Egyptian  lady 
Nitdkris,  who  wished  to  marry  her  to  her  son  Takhos, 
for  the  small  sum  of  £2  iox.  The  last  deed  of  sale,  by 
the  way,  proves  that  wives  in  Assyria  could  sometimes 
be  bought. 

All  deeds  and  contracts  were  signed  and  sealed  in 
the  presence  of  a number  of  attesting  witnesses,  who 
attached  their  seals,  or,  if  they  were  too  poor  to  possess 
any,  their  nail-marks,  to  the  documents.  It  was  then 


134  ASSYRIA:  ITS  PRINCES,  PRIESTS,  AND  PEOPLE. 

enclosed  in  an  outer  coating  of  clay,  on  which  an 
abstract  of  its  contents  was  given.  Sometimes  a further 
document  on  papyrus  was  fastened  to  it  by  means  of  a 
string. 

It  was  only  in  the  case  of  the  monarch  himself  that 
the  signatures  of  attesting  witnesses  were  dispensed 
with.  The  British  Museum  possesses  a sort  of  private 
will  made  by  Sennacherib  in  favour  of  Esar-haddon, 
when  the  latter  was  not  as  yet  heir-apparent  to  the 
throne.  In  this  no  witnesses  are  mentioned,  and  it  is 
considered  sufficient  that  the  document  should  be  lodged 
in  the  imperial  archives.  It  runs  as  follows  : ‘ I,  Senna- 
cherib, king  of  legions,  king  of  Assyria,  bequeathe 
armlets  of  gold,  quantities  of  ivory,  a platter  of  gold, 
ornaments  and  chains  for  the  neck,  all  these  beautiful 
things  of  which  there  are  heaps,  and  three  sorts  of  pre- 
cious stones,  i \ manehs  and  2\  shekels  in  weight,  to 
Esar-haddon,  my  son,  whose  name  was  afterwards 
changed  to  Assur-sar-illik-pal  by  my  wish.  I have 
deposited  the  treasure  in  the  house  of  Amuk.  Thine  is 
the  kingdom,  O Nebo,  our  light ! ’ Payments,  it  must 
be  remembered,  were  still  made  by  weight,  coined 
money  not  having  been  introduced  until  after  the  time 
of  Nebuchadnezzar. 

The  business-like  character  of  the  trading  community 
of  Nineveh  will  best  be  gathered  from  the  documents 
themselves  which  have  been  left  to  us.  It  will,  there- 
fore, not  be  out  of  place  to  add  here  translations  of  some 
of  the  contract  tablets  : — 


MANNERS  AND  CUSTOMS. 


135 

I.  ‘Ten shekels  of  the  best  silver  for  the  head  of  Istar  of 

Nineveh,  which  Bil-lubaladh  has  lent  on  a loan  in  the 
presence  of  Mannu-ki-Arbela  [here  follow  three  seals]  ; 
the  silver  is  to  have  interest  paid  upon  it  at  lour  per 
cent.  The  silver  has  been  given  on  the  third  day  of 
the  month.  (Dated)  the  third  day  of  Sebat,  in  the 
eponymy  of  Rimmon-lid-ani.  The  witnesses  (are) 
Khatpi-sumnu,  Rahu,  Ziru-yukin,  Neriglissor,  Ebed- 
Nebo  of  Selappa,  Musezib-Assur,  Nebo-sallim-sunu, 
Khanni,  and  Bel-sad-ili.’ 

Then  follow  two  lines  and  a half  of  Aramaic,  the  first 
of  which  contains  the  name  of  Mannu-ki-Arbela. 

II.  ‘Two  talents  of  bronze,  the  property  of  Istar  of  Arbela, 
which  Mannu-ki-Arbela  gives  to  the  goddess  in  the 
month  Ab,  in  the  presence  of  Samas-akhi-erba ; if  they 
are  given,  interest  shall  be  paid  on  them  at  three  per 
cent.  (Dated)  the  eleventh  day  of  Si /an,  in  the 
eponymy  of  Bamba  (b.c.  676),  before  the  witnesses : 
Istar-bab-esses,  Kua,  Sarru-ikbi,  Dumku-pani-sarri,  and 
Nebo-bilua.’ 

III.  ‘ Four  manehs  of  silver,  according  to  the  standard  of 
Carchemish,  which  Neriglissor,  in  the  presence  of  Nebo- 
sum-iddin,  son  of  Nebo-rahim-baladhi  the  superinten- 
dent of  the  Guards  at  Dur-Sargon  (Khorsabad),  lends 
out  at  five  shekels  of  silver  per  month  interest.  (Dated) 
the  twenty-sixth  day  of  the  month  of  Iyyar,  in  the 
eponymy  of  Gabbaru  (b.c.  667).  The  witnesses  are : 
Nebo-pal-iddin,  Nebo-nirar,  the  holder  of  the  two  pens, 
Akhu-ramu  of  the  same  office,  Assur-danin  sarri  of  the 


136  ASSYRIA:  ITS  PRINCES,  PRIESTS,  AND  PEOPLE. 


same  office,  Disi  the  astronomer,  Samas-igir-sumeli  (?), 
Sin-kasid-kala,  the  executioner,  and  Merodach  . . . 

the  astronomer.’ 

IV.  ‘The  nail-mark  of  Sar-ludari,  the  nail-mark  of  Atar- 
suru,  the  nail-mark  of  the  woman  Amat-Suhla,  the  wife 
of  Bel-dur,  belonging  to  the  third  regiment,  owners  of 
the  house  which  is  sold.  [Then  follow  four  nail- 
marks.]  The  whole  house,  with  its  woodwork  and  its 
doors,  situated  in  the  city  of  Nineveh,  adjoining  the 
houses  of  Mannu-ki-akhi  and  El-kiya,  near  the 
markets  (?),  has  been  sold,  and  Tsil-Assur,  the  astrono- 
mer, an  Egyptian,  has  received  it  for  one  maneh  of 
silver,  according  to  the  royal  standard  (£9),  in  the 
presence  of  Sar-ludari,  Atar-suru,  and  Amat-suhla,  the 
wife  of  Bel-dur.  The  full  price  has  been  paid.  This 
house  has  been  bought.  Withdrawal  from  the  contract 
and  agreement  is  forbidden.  Whoever  shall  act 
fraudulently  (?)  at  any  time,  or  from  among  these 
men  who  have  sworn  to  the  contract  and  agreement 
with  Tsil-Assur,  shall  be  fined  ten  manehs  of  silver 
{£ 9 °).  The  witnesses  are  : Susanku-khatnanis,  Khar- 
maza,  the  captain  ; Rasuh,  the  pilot;  Nebo-dur-sanin, 
the  foreign  traveller ; Kharmaza,  the  chief  pilot ; Sin- 
sar-utsur  and  Zedekiah.  (Dated)  the  sixteenth  day  of 
Si  van,  in  the  eponymy  of  Zaza  (b.c.  692),  the  Governor 
of  Arpad.  In  the  presence  of  Samas-yukin-akhi, 
Latturu,  and  Nebo-sum-utsur.’ 

V.  ‘ The  seal  of  (Dagon-melech)  the  master  of  the  slaves. — 
Imannu,  the  woman  U . . . and  Melech-ur 

[Melchior],  three  persons,  have  been  sold,  and  thou. 


MANNERS  AND  CUSTOMS. 


137 


O Enuma-ili,  the  holder  of  the  highplaces  which  have 
been  erected  at  the  entrance  to  Dur-Sargon,  hast 
received  them  from  Dagon-melech  for  three  manehs 
of  silver  (^2  7)  according  to  the  standard  of 
Carchemish.  The  full  price  hast  thou  paid.  These 
slaves  have  been  bought  and  taken.  Withdrawal 
from  the  contract  and  agreement  is  forbidden.  Who- 
ever shall  act  fraudulently  (?)  at  any  time,  and  shall 
deceive  and  injure  me  (?),  whether  Dagon-melech  or 
his  brothers,  or  the  sons  of  his  brothers,  whether  small 
or  great,  who  have  sworn  to  the  contract  and  agree- 
ment on  behalf  of  Enuma-ili,  his  sons  and  grandsons, 
shall  pay  . . (manehs)  of  silver,  and  one  maneh  of 

gold  to  Istar  of  Arbela,  and  shall  return  the  price  to  the 
owners  with  ten  per  cent,  interest.  Then  he  will  be 
quit  of  his  contract  and  agreement,  and  will  not  have 
bought.  The  witnesses  (are) : Adda  the  astronomer, 
Akhu-irame  the  astronomer,  Pakakha  [Pekah]  the 
chief  of  the  . . . , Nadbi-Yahu  [Nadabiah]  the 

principal  . . . Bel-sime-ani,  Bin-dikiri,  Khim-Istar, 

and  Tabni  the  astronomer,  the  recipient  of  the 
document.  (Dated)  the  twentieth  day  of  Ab,  in  the 
eponymy  of  Mannu-ki-Assur-lih  ’ (b.g  709). 


It  will  be  noticed  that  the  Israelitish  witnesses  to  the 
last  deed  of  sale,  Pekah  and  Nadabiah,  hold  public 
offices,  though  the  exact  nature  of  them  is  at  present 
unknown.  We  may  conclude  from  this  that  some  of  the 
Samaritan  captives  were  allowed  to  live  in  Nineveh,  and 
so  far  from  being  in  a condition  of  slavery  were  able  to 


138  ASSYRIA:  ITS  PRINCES,  PRIESTS,  AND  PEOPLE. 

be  in  the  service  of  the  state.  Among  the  earliest 
known  examples  of  Israelitish  or  Jewish  writing  are 
seals  which  probably  belong  to  a period  anterior  to  the 
Babylonish  Exile,  and  have  been  found  at  Diarbekr 
and  other  places  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  Tigris 
and  Euphrates.  It  is  also  possible  that  the  great 
banking  firm  of  Egibi,  which  flourished  at  Babylon  from 
the  time  of  Sennacherib  and  Esar-haddon  to  that  of 
Darius  and  Xerxes,  and  carried  on  business  transactions 
as  extensive  as  those  of  the  Rothschilds  of  to-day,  was 
of  Israelitish  origin.  At  all  events  the  name  Egibi  is 
not  Babylonian,  while  it  is  a very  exact  Babylonian 
transcript  of  the  Biblical  name  Jacob. 

The  contract  tablets  throw  a good  deal  of  light  upon 
Assyrian  law.  In  its  main  outlines  it  did  not  differ 
much  from  our  own.  Precedents  and  previous  decisions 
seem  to  have  been  held  in  as  high  estimation  as  among 
our  own  lawyers.  The  king  was  the  supreme  court  of 
appeal,  and  copies  exist  of  private  petitions  preferred  to 
him  on  a variety  of  matters.  Judges  were  appointed 
under  the  king,  and  prisons  were  established  in  the 
towns.  An  old  Babylonian  code  of  moral  precepts 
addressed  to  princes  denounces  the  ruler  who  listens  to 
the  evil  advice  of  his  courtiers,  and  does  not  deliver 
judgment  ‘according  to  the  statutes,’  ‘the  law-book,’ 
and  ‘the  writing  of  the  god  Ea.’  The  earliest  existing 
code  of  laws  is  one  which  goes  back  to  the  Accadian 
epoch,  and  contains  an  express  enactment  for  pro- 
tecting the  slave  against  his  master.  How  far  it  was 


MANNERS  AND  CUSTOMS. 


139 


made  the  basis  of  subsequent  Semitic  legislation  it  is 
difficult  to  say ; in  one  respect,  at  all  events,  it  differed 
considerably  from  the  law  which  followed  it.  This  was 
in  the  position  it  assigned  to  women.  Among  the 
Accadians,  the  woman  was  the  equal  of  man  ; in  fact, 
she  ranked  before  the  husband  in  matters  relating  to  the 
family;  whereas  among  the  Semites  she  was  degraded 
to  a very  inferior  rank.  It  is  curious  to  find  the 
Semitic  translator  of  an  Accadian  text  invariably 
changing  the  order  in  which  the  words  for  man  and 
woman,  male  and  female  occur  in  the  original.  In  the 
Accadian  the  order  is  ‘ woman  and  man,’  in  the  Assyro- 
Babylonian  translation,  ‘ man  and  woman.5 

The  high-roads  were  placed  under  the  charge  of 
commissioners,  and  in  Babylonia,  where  brick-making 
was  an  important  occupation,  the  brick-yards  as  well. 
Certain  of  the  taxes,  which  were  raised  alike  from 
citizens  and  aliens,  were  devoted  to  the  maintenance 
of  them.  Unfortunately  we  know  but  little  at  present 
of  the  precise  way  in  which  the  taxes  were  levied,  and 
the  principle  on  which  they  were  distributed  among  the 
various  classes  of  the  population.  In  Babylonia,  how- 
ever, the  tenant  does  not  seem  to  have  paid  much  to 
the  government,  since  we  are  told  of  him  that  after 
handing  over  one-third  of  the  produce  of  an  estate  to  his 
landlord,  he  might  keep  the  rest  of  it  for  himself.  There 
is  no  hint  that  any  portion  of  it  was  distrained  for  the 
state. 

As  in  modern  Turkey,  the  imperial  exchequer  after 


140  ASSYRIA:  ITS  PRINCES,  PRIESTS,  AND  PEOPLE. 


the  time  of  Tiglath-Pileser  II  was  supplied  by  fixed 
contributions  from  the  separate  provinces  and  large 
towns.  Thus  Nineveh  itself  was  assessed  at  thirty 
talents.  The  best  way,  however,  of  giving  an  idea  of 
the  assessment  is  by  a translation  of  the  few  fragments 
of  the  assessment  lists  of  the  Second  Empire  which  have 
been  preserved  to  us. 

I.  ‘ To  be  expended  on  linen  cloths.  Fifty  (talents). 

Thirty  talents.  The  tribute  of  Nineveh.  Ten  talents 
for  firewood  (?). 

Twenty  talents  of  Assyria,  from  the  same  city,  for  the 
equipment  of  the  fleet. 

Ten  talents  of  Assyria,  a fresh  assessment.  In  all 
(from  Assyria)  274  talents. 

Twenty  talents  for  the  harem  of  the  palace.  Expended 
on  linen  cloths. 


Five  talents.  The  tribute  of  Calah.  To  be  expended 
on  firewood  (?). 

Four  talents  of  Assyria,  from  the  same  city.  Thirty 
talents  for  the  highlands. 

Ten  talents  from  the  city  of  Enil,  for  the  lowlands. 

. . . talents  from  the  city  of  Nisibis.  Twenty 

talents  for  600  . . . 

(.  . . talents)  from  the  city  of  Alikhu,  for  600 

dresses. 

(.  . . talents)  for  six  vestures  of  linen.  Three 

talents  for  epa. 

(.  . , talents  . . .)  for  keeping  the  gates  in 

repair. 


MANNERS  AND  CUSTOMS. 


141 

(.  . . talents)  for  the  tax-gatherer.  Two  talents 

from  the  city  of  Alikhn. 

(.  . . talents)  for  chariots  and  for  wheels. 

(.  . . talents)  for  the  astronomer.  Three  talents  for 

women’s  robes. 

(.  . . talents)  for  the  throne  of  the  palace  in  the 

middle  of  the  city.  Two  talents  for  gala  dresses. 

(.  . . talents)  for  the  throne  of  the  palace  (in  the 

middle  of  the  city).  Two  talents  ten  manehs  500 
(shekels). 

. . . ...  in  the  city  of  Assur  . . . again. 

the  city  of  Kalzu1,  two  talents  (for) 

three  conduits. 

(.  . . talents)  from  the  city  of  Enil,  for  the  persons 

of  the  overseers. 

(Assessment  of)  the  country  .of  Assyria ; two  talents  for 
the  house  of  the  tax-gatherer;  two  talents  for  the 
right  side  (of  the  house) ; five  talents  for  the 
completion  (of  the  assessment). 

(.  . . talents)  from  the  nobles,  and  two  talents  from 

the  librarians,  for  firewood  (?)  each  year. 

To  be  expended  on  linen  cloths : ten  talents  from  the 
land  of  Risu. 

(For)  the  servants  of  the  palace  and  the  people  of 
Nineveh. 

. . . (for)  seats,  five  talents  from  their  attendants. 

(Levied)  every  year  from  the  lowlands. 


1 Now  Shamameh,  south-west  of  Arbela. 


142  ASSYRIA:  ITS  PRINCES,  PRIESTS,  AND  PEOPLE. 


The  payment  to  be  made  by  the  tax-gatherer:  two 
talents  for  the  male  and  female  spinners. 

(For)  the  house  of  the  Master  of  the  Singers : one 
talent  for  their  coverings. 

Also  for  the  house  of  the  singing  men  themselves. 

. . . for  the  keep  of  the  war-chariot.  In  all  190 

talents  ten  manehs. 


. . . manehs  for  his  awning.  To  be  expended  in 

full. 

. . . manehs  for  the  broad  streets  of  the  public 

road  : seven  talents  ten  manehs  besides. 

Forty  manehs  and  a shekel  and  (?)  a sleeved  dress ; 
twenty-two  talents  for  wood. 

At  six  per  cent,  on  each  shekel  let  him  put  out  the 
money  at  triple  interest. 


Two  talents  without  the  linen.  Fifteen  talents  ten 
manehs  for  the  same  personage. 


Three  talents  ten  manehs  for  the  custom-house. 

Thirty  talents  ten  manehs  on  (?)  slaves. 

Two  manehs  for  wine-presses.  The  money  to  be  put 
out  at  double  interest. 


For  rods  : one  talent  (levied  on)  the  north  side  (of 
the  city).  In  all,  twenty-two  talents  to  be  invested. 
Altogether  thirty  talents  twenty-one  manehs  out  of 
fifty-three  talents. 


MANNERS  AND  CUSTOMS. 


143 


In  the  presence  of  the  princes  the  money  raised  on  the 
slaves  to  be  invested. 

[Here  follows  the  endorsement  of  the  tax-collectors  :] 
We  receive  no  bribes  : we  give  what  we  take.’ 

II.  * Thirty  talents  (are  annually  received)  from  Arpad. 

One  hundred  talents  from  Carchemish. 

Thirty  talents  from  the  city  of  the  Kuans.1 

Fifteen  talents  from  Megiddo. 

Fifteen  talents  from  Mannutsuate. 

. . . talents  from  Zemar  (Gen.  x.  18). 

. . . talents  from  Hadrach  (Zech.  ix.  1). 

. . . talents  to  be  put  out  at  interest ; fifty  talents 

to  be  melted  into  bronze. 

It  is  weighed  in  the  presence  of  the  princes. 

(The  tribute)  of  Damascus,  Arpad,  Carchemish,  Kue, 
Tsubud,  Zemar,  and  Meon-Zemar.’ 

In  spite  of  the  fragmentary  character  of  these  lists, 
and  the  difficulty  of  understanding  them  perfectly  in 
consequence  of  their  brevity  and  the  omission  of  prepo- 
sitions, we  may  nevertheless  glean  from  them  a fair 
idea  of  the  method  in  which  the  imperial  exchequer  of 
Assyria  was  replenished,  and  the  objects  to  which  the 
taxes  and  tribute  were  devoted.  A considerable  amount 

1 The  Kue  or  Kuans  inhabited  the  northern  and  eastern  shores  of  the 
Gulf  of  Antioch.  M.  Frangois  Lenormant  has  ingeniously  suggested  that 
in  I Kings  x.  28,  we  ought  to  read  (with  a slight  change  of  vowel 
punctuation),  ‘And  Solomon  had  horses  brought  out  of  Egypt,  and  out 
of  Kue  the  king’s  merchants  received  a drove  at  a price.’ 


144  ASSYRIA:  ITS  PRINCES,  PRIESTS,  AND  PEOPLE. 


must  have  gone  to  the  great  army  of  officials  by  whom 
the  Second  Empire  was  administered.  ‘The  great  king,’ 
it  was  true,  was  autocratic  like  the  Russian  Czar,  but 
like  the  Russian  Czar  he  was  also  controlled  by  a 
bureaucracy  which  managed  the  government  under  him. 
In  military  matters  alone  he  was  supreme,  though  even 
here  two  commanders-in-chief  stood  at  his  side,  ready  to 
take  his  place  in  the  command  of  the  troops  whenever 
age  or  disinclination  detained  him  at  home.  The  lists 
of  Assyrian  officials  which  we  possess  are  very  lengthy, 
and  their  titles  seem  almost  endless.  At  the  head  came 
the  two  commanders-in-chief,  the  Turtannu  or  Tartan  of 
the  right,  and  the  Turtannu  of  the  left,  doubtless  so 
called  from  their  position  on  the  right  and  left  of  the 
king.  Next  to  them  were  the  Chamberlain  or  superin- 
tendent of  the  singing  men  and  women,  and  then  after 
five  other  officials  whose  posts  are  obscure,  the  ‘ Rab- 
sak  * or  ‘ Rab-shakeh.’  His  title  means  literally  ‘chief 
of  the  princes/  and  he  corresponded  to  the  Vizier  or 
Prime  Minister  of  the  Turkish  Empire.  Among  other 
public  offices  we  may  notice  that  of  the  astronomer, 
who  was  supported  by  the  state  like  the  rest,  and  who 
ranked  immediately  after  the  ‘superintendent  of  the 
camel-stables.’  The  latter  again  was  inferior  in  rank  to 
the  ‘captain  of  the  watch/  ‘the  captain  of  fifty/  ‘the 
overseer  of  the  vineyards/  and  ‘ the  overseer  of  the 
quays.’ 

Such,  then,  was  the  constitution  of  the  great  Assyrian 
Empire,  which  first  endeavoured  to  organise  Western 


MANNERS  AND  CUSTOMS. 


r45 


Asia  into  a single  homogeneous  whole,  and  in  effecting 
its  purpose  cared  neither  for  justice  nor  for  humanity. 
Nineveh  was  ‘ full  of  lies  and  robbery,’  but  it  was  God’s 
instrument  in  chastising  His  chosen  people,  and  in  pre- 
paring the  way  for  the  ages  that  were  to  come,  and  for 
a while,  therefore,  it  was  allowed  to  ‘ make  the  earth 
empty  ’ and  ‘ waste.’  But  the  day  came  when  its  work 
was  accomplished,  and  the  measure  of  its  iniquity  was 
full.  Nineveh,  ‘ the  bloody  city,’  fell,  never  to  rise  again 
and  the  doom  pronounced  by  Nahum  was  fulfilled.  For 
centuries  the  very  site  of  the  imperial  city  remained 
unknown,  and  the  traveller  and  historian  alike  put  the 
vain  question  : ‘ Where  is  the  dwelling  of  the  lions,  and 
the  feeding-place  of  the  young  lions,  where  the  lion, 
even  the  old  lion,  walked,  and  the  lion’s  whelp,  and  none 
made  them  afraid  ? * 


K 


146 


APPENDIX. 

Translations  from  Assyrian  Texts  relating 
to  the  History  of  the  Kingdoms  of  Israel 
and  Judah. 

From  the  inscription  of  Shalmaneser  If  found  at 
Kurkh , on  the  right  bank  of  the  Tigris , to  the  south-east  of 
Diarbekr. 

* In  the  eponymy  of  Dayan-Assur  (b.C.  854)  on  the 
14th  of  the  month  Iyyar  I left  the  city  of  Nineveh.  The 
river  Tigris  I crossed.  I approached  the  cities  of 
Giammu  on  the  river  Balikh.  The  fear  of  my  lordship, 
the  sight  of  my  strong  weapons  they  feared,  and  in  the 
service  of  themselves  they  slew  Giammu  their  lord.  I 
descended  into  the  cities  of  Kitlala  and  Tul-sa-abil-akhi 
[the  mound  of  the  son  of  the  brother]  ; I caused 
my  gods  to  enter  his  palaces ; a plundering  in  his 
palaces  I made.  I opened  his  store-chambers ; his 
treasures  I seized.  His  goods,  his  spoil,  I carried  off ; 
to  my  city  of  Assur  I brought  (them).  From  the  city 
of  Kitlala  I departed  ; to  the  city  of  the  Fort  of  Shal- 
maneser [Tul-Barsip,  the  Barsampse  of  Ptolemy]  I 
approached.  In  boats  of  inflated  skins  for  the  second 
time  I crossed  the  Euphrates  at  its  flood.  The  tribute 
of  the  kings  of  the  further  bank  of  the  Euphrates ; of 
Sangar  of  Carchemish  ; of  Kundaspi  of  Komagene ; of 
Arame  the  son  of  Gusi ; of  Lalli  of  Malatiyeh ; of 
Khayani,  the  son  of  Gabari ; of  Girparuda  of  the  Pati- 
nians  ; and  of  Girparuda  of  the  Gamgumians ; silver, 
gold,  lead,  bronze,  and  vases  of  bronze  (in)  the  city  of 
Assur-tamsukha-atsbat,  on  the  further  bank  of  the 


APPENDIX. 


147 


Euphrates,  and  above  the  river  Saguri  [the  Sajur], 
which  the  Hittites  call  the  city  of  Pethor,  in  the  midst 
(of  it)  I received.  From  the  Euphrates  I departed. 
The  city  of  Khalman  [Aleppo]  I approached  ; they 
feared  battle  ; they  embraced  my  feet.  Silver  and  gold 
I received  as  their  tribute  ; I offered  sacrifices  before  the 
god  Rimmon  of  Khalman.  From  the  city  of  Khalman 
I departed  ; to  two  cities  of  Irkhulena  of  Hamath  I 
approached.  The  cities  of  Adennu  [the  Eden  of  Amos 
i.  5],  Barga  and  Argana  his  royal  city  I captured.1  His 
spoil,  his  goods,  and  the  treasures  of  his  palaces  I 
brought  out.  To  his  palaces  I set  fire.  From  the  city 
of  Argana  I departed,  the  city  of  Karkar  [Aroer]  I 
approached.  (His)  royal  city  of  Karkar  I threw 
down,  dug  up,  and  burned  with  fire.  1,200  chariots, 
1,200  horsemen,  and  20,000  men  of  Hadadezer  of 
Damascus,  700  chariots,  700  horsemen,  and  10,000  men 
of  Ahab  [Akhabbu]  of  Israel,  500  men  of  Kue, 

1.000  men  from  Egypt,  10  chariots,  and  10,000  men 
from  the  land  of  Irkanat,  200  men  of  Matinu-Baal  of 
Arvad,  200  men  from  the  land  of  Usanat,  30  chariots, 
and  10,000  men  of  Adon-Baal  of  Sizan,  1,000  camels  of 
Gindibuh  of  the  land  of  the  Arabians  [Arba’a],  200  men 
of  Bahsa  son  of  Rukhubi  [Rehob]  of  Ammon,  these 
twelve  kings  (Irkhulena)  brought  to  his  help,  and  to 
(make)  war  and  battle  against  me  they  had  come.  With 
the  exalted  help  which  Assur  the  lord  rendered,  with 
the  mighty  weapons  which  the  great  protector  who  goes 
before  me  bestowed,  I fought  with  them.  From  the 
city  of  Karkar  to  the  city  of  Guzau  I overthrew  them. 

14.000  of  their  troops  I slew  with  weapons.  Like 
Rimmon,  the  air-god,  I caused  the  storm  to  come  forth 
upon  them.  I filled  the  surface  of  the  water  with  their 
(wrecks).  I laid  low  their  wide-spread  forces  with 
weapons.  The  low  ground  of  the  district  received  (?) 

1 On  the  bronze  gates  of  Balawat  Adennu  is  written  A.da  and  Barga 
Parga. 


148  ASSYRIA:  ITS  PRINCES,  PRIESTS,  AND  PEOPLE. 

their  corpses.  To  give  life  to  its  inhabitants  I have 
enlarged  its  border  (?) ; that  it  might  support  them  I 
divided  (it)  among  its  people.  The  river  Orontes  I 
reached  close  to  the  banks.  In  the  midst  of  this  battle 
I took  from  them  their  chariots,  their  horsemen,  their 
horses  and  their  teams.’ 

From  the  Black  Obelisk  of  Shalmaneser  II. 

‘ In  my  eighteenth  year  for  the  sixteenth  time  I 
crossed  the  Euphrates.  Hazael,  of  Damascus,  advanced 
to  battle;  1,121  of  his  chariots,  470  of  his  horsemen, 
along  with  his  camp  I took  from  him.’ 

From  a Fragment  of  the  Annals  of  Shalmaneser  II. 

‘ In  my  eighteenth  year  for  the  sixteenth  time  I 
crossed  the  Euphrates.  Hazael,  of  Damascus,  trusted 
in  the  might  of  his  army,  and  assembled  his  army 
without  number.  He  made  Mount  Shenir,  the  highest 
peak  of  the  mountains  which  are  as  you  come  to  Mount 
Lebanon,  his  fortress.  I fought  with  him  ; I overthrew 
him  ; 16,000  of  his  fighting  men  I slew  with  weapons, 
1,121  of  his  chariots,  470  of  his  horsemen,  along  with 
his  camp,  I took  from  him.  To  save  his  life  he  ascended 
(the  country)  ; I pursued  after  him.  In  Damascus,  his 
royal  city,  I shut  him  up ; his  plantations  I cut  down. 
To  the  mountains  of  the  Hauran  I went  ; cities  innu- 
merable I threw  down,  I dug  up,  I burned  with  fire  ; 
their  spoil  innumerable  I carried  away.  To  the 
mountains  of  Baal-rosh  at  the  promontory  of  the  sea  I 
went  ; I made  an  image  of  my  majesty  there.  At  that 
time  I received  the  tribute  of  the  Tyrians,  of  the  Sido- 
nians,  and  of  Jehu,  son  of  Omri.’ 

From  the  Inscription  of  R immon-nirai'i  III. 

‘ Conqueror  from  the  highroad  of  the  rising  sun,  of 
the  lands  of  Kip,  Ellip  [Ekbatana],  Kharkhar,  Arazias, 


APPENDIX. 


149 


Mesu,  the  Medes,  Girubbunda  to  its  whole  extent, 
Munna,  Barsua,  Allabria,  Abdadana,  Nahri  to  its 
extreme  frontiers,  and  Andiu,  whose  situation  is  remote, 
the  mountainous  border-land  to  its  extreme  frontiers,  as 
far  as  the  great  sea  of  the  rising  sun  [the  Persian  Gulf], 
from  the  Euphrates,  and  the  lands  of  the  Hittites,  of 
Phoenicia  to  its  whole  extent,  of  Tyre,  of  Sidon,  of  Omri 
[Samaria],  of  Edom,  and  of  Philistia  as  far  as  the  great 
sea  of  the  setting  sun  [the  Mediterranean],  to  my  yoke  I 
subjected  (them),  payment  of  tribute  I imposed  upon 
them.  To  the  land  of  Damascus  I went ; I shut  up 
Marih,  king  of  Syria,  in  Damascus,  his  royal  city.  The 
fear  of  the  brilliance  of  Assur,  his  lord,  overwhelmed 
him,  and  he  took  my  feet ; he  offered  homage.  2,300 
talents  of  silver,  20  talents  of  gold,  3,000  talents  of 
bronze,  5,000  talents  of  iron,  garments  of  damask  and 
linen,  a couch  of  ivory,  a sun -shade  of  ivory,  I took,  I 
carried  to  (Assyria).  His  spoil,  his  goods  innumerable, 
I received  in  Damascus,  his  royal  city,  in  the  midst  of  his 
palace/ 


From  Fragments  of  the  Annals  of  Tiglath-Pileser  II. 

I.  ‘ They  had.  embraced  the  mountain  of  Baal-tsephon 
[Mount  Kasios]  as  far  as  the  range  of  Amanus,  the  land 
of  Zittu  (?),  the  land  of  Sau  to  its  whole  extent,  the 
province  of  the  cities  of  Kar-Rimmon  and  Hadrach 
(Zech.  ix.  1),  the  province  of  the  city  of  Nukudina,  the 
land  of  Khazu  [Huz]  as  far  as  the  cities  in  the  circuit  of 
the  city  of  Ara,  the  cities,  all  of  them,  the  eities  in  their 
circuit,  the  mountain  of  Sarbua  to  its  whole  extent,  the 
cities  of  Askhan  and  Yadab,  Mount  Yaraku  to  its  whole 
extent,  the  cities  of  . . ri,  Ellitarbi,  and  Zitanu  as  far 

as  the  midst  of  the  city  of  Atinni  . . . and  the  city 

of  Buname,  nineteen  districts  belonging  to  Hamath, 
together  with  the  cities  in  their  circuit  in  the  direction  of 
the  Sea  of  the  setting  sun  [the  Mediterranean],  which  in 


150  ASSYRIA:  ITS  PRINCES,  PRIESTS,  AND  PEOPLE. 

their  faithlessness  made  revolt  to  Azariah,  I turned  into 
the  territory  of  Assyria.  My  governors  and  officers  I 
appointed  over  them.’ 

II.  ‘The  tribute  of  Kustaspi  of  Komagene,  Rezon  of 
Damascus,  Menahem  of  Samaria,  Hiram  of  Tyre, 
Sibitti-Baal  of  Gebal,  Urikki  of  Kue,  Pisiris  of  Car- 
chemish,  Eniel  of  Plamath,  Parammu  of  Samahla, 
Tarkhu-lara  of  Gamgum,  Sulumal  of  Milid  [Malatiyeh], 
Dadilu  of  Kolkhis,  Vas-surme  of  Tubal,  Uskhitti  of 
Tuna,  Urpalla  of  Tukhan,  Tukhamme  of  Istunda, 
Urimme  of  Khusimna,  and  Zabibieh,  queen  of  the  Ara- 
bians, gold,  silver,  lead,  iron,  elephants’  hides,  elephants’ 
tusks,  tapestries  of  blue  and  purple,  oak-wood,  weapons 
for  service,  a royal  tent,  sheep  with  bundles  of  their 
wool,  purple  dye,  the  dyed  feathers  of  flying  birds,  nine 
of  their  wings  coloured  blue,  horses,  mules,  oxen,  sheep, 
and  wethers,  camels  and  she-camels,  together  with  their 
young  ones,  I received.  In  my  ninth  year  Assur  my 
lord  regarded  me  and  to  the  countries  of  Kipsi,  Irangi, 
Tazakki,  Media,  Zualzas,  Matti,  and  Umliyas  I went.’ 

III.  ‘ The  towns  of  Gil(ead)  and  Abel-(beth-Maachah) 

in  the  province  of  Beth-Omri  [Samaria],  the  widespread 
(district  of  Naphta)li  to  its  whole  extent  I turned  into 
the  territory  of  Assyria.  My  (governors)  and  officers  I 
appointed  (over  them).  Khanun  of  Gaza  who  had  fled 
before  my  weapons  escaped  (to  the  land)  of  Egypt.  The 
city  of  Gaza  (his  royal  city  I captured.  Its  spoils),  its 
gods  (I  carried  away.  My  name)  and  the  image  of  my 
majesty  (I  set  up)  in  the  midst  of  the  temple  of  . . . 

the  gods  of  their  land  I counted  (as  a spoil)  and  . . 

. . . like  a bird to  his  land  I 

restored  him  and  (imposed  tribute  upon  him.  Gold), 
silver,  garments  of  damask  and  linen  (along  with  other 
objects)  I received.  The  land  of  Beth-Omri  .... 
a selection  of  its  inhabitants  (with  their  goods)  I 
transported  to  Assyria.  Pekah  their  king  I put  to  death, 
and  I appointed  Hosea  to  the  sovereignty  over  them. 


APPENDIX. 


151 

Ten  (talents  of  gold,  ...  of  silver  as)  their  tribute 
I received,  and  I transported  them  (to  Assyria).’ 

Front  the  Inscriptions  of  Sargon. 

I.  ‘ (In  the  beginning  of  my  reign)  the  city  of  Samaria 
I besieged,  I captured  ; 27,280  of  its  inhabitants  I 
carried  away ; fifty  chariots  in  the  midst  of  them  I 
collected,  and  the  rest  of  their  goods  I seized ; I set  my 
governor  over  them  and  laid  upon  them  the  tribute  of 
the  former  king  (Hosea).’ 

II.  ‘ (Sargon)  the  conqueror  of  the  Thamudites,  the 
Ibadidites,  the  Marsimanites,  and  the  Khapayans,1  the 
remainder  of  whom  was  carried  away  and  whom  he 
transported  to  the  midst  of  the  land  of  Beth-Omri.’ 

III.  ‘ The  Thamudites,  the  (Ibadidites),  the  Marsiman- 
ites and  the  Khapayans,  distant  Arab  tribes,  who  inhabit 
the  desert,  of  whom  no  scholar  or  envoy  knew,  and  who 
had  never  brought  their  tribute  to  the  kings  my  (fathers), 
I slaughtered  in  the  service  of  Assur,  and  transported 
what  was  left  of  them,  setting  them  in  the  city  of 
Samaria.’ 

IV.  ‘ (In  my  ninth  expedition  and  eleventh  year)  the 
people  of  the  Philistines,  Judah,  Edom  and  the  Moabites 
who  dwell  by  the  sea,  who  owed  tribute  and  presents  to 
Assur  my  lord,  plotted  rebellion,  men  of  insolence,  who 
in  order  to  revolt  against  me  carried  their  bribes  for 
alliance  to  Pharaoh  king  of  Egypt,  a prince  who  could 
not  save  them,  and  sent  him  homage.  I,  Sargon,  the 
established  prince,  the  reverer  of  the  worship  of  Assur 
and  Merodach,  the  protector  of  the  renown  of  Assur, 
caused  the  warriors  who  belonged  to  me  entirely  to  pass 
the  rivers  Tigris  and  Euphrates  during  full  flood,  and 
that  same  Yavan  [of  Ashdod],  their  king,  who  trusted  in 
his  (forces),  and  did  not  (reverence)  my  sovereignty, 
heard  of  the  progress  of  my  expedition  to  the  land  of 

1 Identified  by  Delitzsch  with  the  Ephah  of  Gen.  xxv.  4,  and  Is.  lx.  6. 


152  ASSYRIA:  ITS  PRINCES,  PRIESTS,  AND  PEOPLE. 

the  Hittites  [Syria],  and  the  fear  of  (Assur)  my  (lord) 
overwhelmed  him,  and  to  the  border  of  Egypt  . . . 

he  fled  away.’ 

From  a Cylinder  of  Esar-haddon. 

‘ I assembled  the  kings  of  Syria  and  the  land  beyond 
the  [Mediterranean]  sea,  Baal  king  of  Tyre,  Manasseh 
king  of  Judah,  Kaus-gabri  king  of  Edom,  Mizri1  king  of 
Moab,  Zil-Baal  king  of  Gaza,  Metinti  king  of  Ashkelon, 
Ikausu  king  of  Ekron,  Melech-asaph  king  of  Gebal, 
Matan-Baal  king  of  Arvad,  Abi-Baal  king  of  Shamesh- 
merom,  Pedael  king  of  Beth- Ammon,  and  Ahimelech 
king  of  Ashdod,  twelve  kings  of  the  sea-coast ; Ekistor 
king  of  Idalion,  Pylagoras  king  of  Khytros,  Kissos 
king  of  Salamis,  Ithuander  king  of  Paphos,  Eriesos 
king  of  Soloi,  Damasos  king  of  Kurion,  Rumesu  king 
of  Tamassos,  Damusi  king  of  Carthage,  Unasagusu  king 
of  Lidir,  and  Butsusu  king  of  Nure,  ten  kings  of  the 
land  of  Cyprus  in  the  middle  of  the  sea.’ 

1 That  is  ‘ the  Egyptian  cf.  2 Sam.  xxiii,  20,  21. 


INDEX. 


A. 

Accadians  invented  the  cuneiform 
system  of  writing,  founded  the 
chief  cities  and  civilisation  of 
Babylonia ; erected  the  earliest 
known  monuments ; the  language 
may  be  called  the  Latin  of  Asia, 
24 ; the  Accadians  first  used  hiero- 
glyphics or  pictures  painted  on 
papyrus  leaves,  from  which  the 
cuneiform  characters  were  formed  ; 
afterwards  soft  clay  was  stamped 
with  cuneitic  symbols,  and  then 
sun-dried ; general  use  of  writing 
and  materials  employed  ; charac- 
ters changed,  93-95 ; Sarzec’s 
recent  discovery  at  Tel-Loh,  95. 

Adar,  a solar  deity;  pronunciation 
of  name  not  quite  certain ; it 
forms  a part  of  the  name  Adram- 
melech,  66. 

Adrammelech,  one  of  the  gods  of 
Sepharvaim  brought  to  Samaria 
by  the  colonists  settled  there ; 
probably  representing  some  par- 
ticular attribute  of  the  Sun -god  ; 
also  the  name  of  one  of  Sen- 
nacherib’s regicide  sons,  46,  66. 

Ahaz,  king  of  Judah,  called  Jeho- 
ahaz  in  the  inscriptions ; bribed 
Pul  to  attack  the  Syrians  and 
Israelites;  and  himself  became 
tributary,  36. 

Allat,  the  goddess  queen  of  the 
underworld,  76. 

Appendix. — Translations  from  As- 
syrian texts  relating  to  the  king- 
doms of  Israel  and  Judah  : 

I.  Inscription  of  Shalmaneser 
II,  found  at  Kurkh,  146-8. 


II.  The  Black  Obelisk  of  Shal- 
maneser II,  148. 

III.  From  a Fragment  of  Shal- 
maneser II,  148. 

IV.  From  the  Inscription  of 
Rimmon-nirari  III,  148-9. 

V.  From  Fragments  of  the 
Annals  of  Tiglath-Pileser  II, 
149-151. 

VI.  From  the  Inscriptions  of 
Sargon,  151-2. 

VII.  From  a Cylinder  of  Esar- 
haddon,  152. 

Aramaic,  commonly  used  by  the 
Jews,  after  the  captivity,  and 
became  the  common  language  of 
trade,  132-3. 

Ararat  or  Armenia,  long  a danger- 
ous neighbour;  Tiglath-Pileser  II 
invaded  the  country,  invested 
Van,  and  devastated  the  sur- 
rounding country,  35. 

Armies  composed  of  charioteers, 
light  and  heavy  armed  cavalry 
and  infantry,  and  were  variously 
equipped  with  bows,  swords,  and 
daggers,  126. 

Armies  crossing  streams;  the  com- 
mon soldiers  on  inflated  skins ; 
the  chief  officers,  chariots,  and 
commissariat  in  boats,  or  on  pon- 
toon bridges,  131. 

Assessment  lists  of  the  provinces 
and  large  towns  after  the  time  of 
Tiglath-Pileser  II;  the  places  and 
amounts  paid  to  the  imperial 
exchequer,  140-3. 

Assur,  the  name  of  a city  on  the 
western  bank  of  the  Tigris,  and 
the  capital  of  the  country  or  dis- 
trict named  after  it;  Assur  was  a 


154 


INDEX. 


descriptive  appellation  signifying 
‘water-boundary’  at  first,  but 
was  slightly  changed  by  the 
Semitic  conquerors  so  as  to  mean 
‘ gracious ;’  the  name  of  Sar,  the 
god  of  the  firmament,  in  time, 
was  confused  with  that  of  the 
patron  deity,  and  Assur  thus 
came  to  signify  the  city,  country, 
and  the  deity;  hence  Assur  repre- 
sented at  the  same  time  the  power 
and  constitution  of  Assyria,  the 
‘gracious’  god,  and  the  prime- 
val firmament;  ruins  now  called 
Kalah  Sherghat,  21-2. 

Assur-bani-pal,  probably  ‘ the  great 
and  noble  Asnapper;’  succeeded 
his  father,  Esar  haddon,  48 ; he 
was  luxurious,  ambitious,  and 
cruel,  but  a most  magnificent 
patron  of  literature ; he  kept 
scribes  constantly  engaged  on 
new  editions  of  rare  or  older 
works;  entrusted  his  armies  to 
his  generals,  and  before  his  death 
found  the  empire  irretrievably 
weakened;  his  lion  hunts  com- 
pared with  those  of  his  warlike 
predecessors ; Egyptian  revolt 
crushed,  and  Tirhakah  again  a 
fugitive,  No-Amon  plundered, 
and  two  obelisks  carried  as  tro- 
phies to  Nineveh,  51;  Tyre  sur- 
rendered and  the  Lydians  paid 
tribute;  fall  of  Elam,  Shushan 
razed,  and  captive  kings  com- 
pelled to  drag  Assur- bani-pal’s 
chariot  through  Nineveh,  51-2; 
the  Arabs  severely  punished,  and 
the  Armenians  of  Van  sought  an 
alliance;  rebellion  headed  by  his 
brother  the  Babylonian  viceroy, 
with  the  assistance  of  Egypt, 
Palestine,  and  Arabia,  and  hired 
Karian  and  Ionian  mercenaries; 
Egypt  now  threw  off  the  yoke ; 
Cuthah  was  reduced  by  famine, 
and  Samas-yuldn  perished  in  the 
flames  of  his  palace;  Elam  ravaged 


again  and  the  last  king  became  a 
fugitive,  52. 

Assur-natsir,  one  of  the  most  ener- 
getic and  ferocious  warrior  kings, 
also  a great  builder  of  palaces; 
restored  Calah,  formed  a library, 
and  made  the  city  his  favourite 
residence,  28-9. 

Assur-nirari,  the  last  of  his  line, 
ascended  the  throne  in  troublous 
time ; Assur,  the  capital,  rose  in 
revolt ; the  cities  and  outlying 
districts  were  surging  with  dis- 
content ; ten  years  later  the  army 
rebelled,  and  the  monarch  and 
his  dynasty  fell  together,  33. 

Assyrian  book,  with  illustration 
from  the  original  in  the  British 
Museum,  98. 

Assyrian  campaigns  at  first  under- 
taken for  the  sake  of 
plunder  and  exacting 
tribute ; made  but  little 
effort  to  retain  their 
conquests,  till  the  time 
of  the  Second  Empire, 

33- 

,,  history  scarcely  known 
till  Bel-kapkapi  became 
king;  decline  of  Assyrian 
power  and  influence,  and 
revived  by  Assur-dayan 
II  and  his  warlike  suc- 
cessors, who  conquered 
the  Babylonians,  Hit- 
tites,  and  Phoenicians, 

34- 7* 

„ law  relied  greatly  on  pre- 
cedents and  decisions; 
the  king  supreme,  and 
appointed  the  judges ; in 
its  general  principles  re- 
sembled the  English ; 
earliest  code,  Accadian, 
138. 

,,  literature , wide  range  of 

subjects,  included  his- 
tory, legend,  poetry,  as- 
tronomy, and  astrology, 


INDEX. 


155 


&c. ; letters  of  the  king, 
reports  of  astronomers 
and  generals,  102. 

Assyrian  palace , built  of  brick  on  a 
raised  platform;  descrip- 
tion, extent  of  courts 
and  royal  chambers ; the 
observatory  built  in 
stages  on  the  west  side ; 
exaggerated  forms  of 
columnar  architecture 
used ; apertures  which 
served  as  windows  pro- 
tected in  winter  by 
heavy  folds  of  tapestry, 
86-8. 

,,  sculptures , mostly  in  re- 
lief ; three  periods  trace- 
able ; characteristics  and 
comparison  with  Egypt- 
ian art;  colour  used  on 
the  bas-reliefs,  89-90. 

,,  Se??tites,  allied  in  blood 
and  language  to  the 
Hebrews,  Aramaeans, 
and  Arabs;  the  Baby- 
lonians a mixed  race, 
partly  Semites  and  Acca- 
dians,  the  original  pos- 
sessors of  the  soil  of 
Chaldea,  24. 

Assyrians  and  Babylonians  con- 
trasted, 66-7. 

Assyro-Babylonians  excelled  in  a 
knowledge  of  mathematics;  tables 
of  squares  and  cubes  and  geome- 
trical figures  have  been  found  at 
Senkereh,  and  the  plan  of  an 
estate  at  Babylon,  118. 


B. 

Babel,  tower  of,  and  the  dispersion, 
82-3. 

Babylonian  myth  of  the  seven  evil 
spirits  warring  against 
the  moon;  flight  of 
Samas  and  Istar;  and 


the  demons  put  to 
flight  by  Merodach; 
explanation  of  the 
myth,  78. 

Babylonian  story  of  the  god  Zu  steal- 
ing the  lightning  of 
Bel  compared  with 
that  of  the  Greek 
Prometheus,  78. 

Balawat,  colossal  doors  of,  the  work 
of  native  artists,  description  of 
the  bronze  framework  and  reliefs ; 
explanatory  texts  relating  to  Shal- 
maneser’s campaigns;  Carche- 
mish  and  Armenian  warriors  de- 
picted, 30. 

Banquets,  wines  of  various  kinds 
used;  those  of  Helbon  most  highly 
prized ; other  luxuries  common ; 
the  tables  ornamented  with 
flowers,  and  musicians  hired  to 
entertain  the  guests,  128-9. 

Bel-kapkapi,  the  founder  of  the 
kingdom  of  Assur;  its  extent  and 
varying  frontiers ; the  inhabitants 
Semites,  27. 

Berossus’  great  work  of  seven  ty-two 
books  translated  into  Greek,  102. 

Blissful  lot  of  the  spirit  of  Ea-bani 
described  in  the  epic  of  Gisdhubar, 
76-7. 

Botta  and  Layard’s  excavation 
brought  to  light  Dur-Sargon  and 
Nineveh,  26. 

Bridges  common  on  all  the  great 
roads  through  Western  Asia  in 
the  earliest  ages  ; used  for  war 
and  trade  ; the  country  then  more 
populous,  and  the  roads  nume- 
rous and  well  kept,  13 1-2. 

c. 

Calah  founded  by  Shalmaneser  T, 
whose  descendants  reigned  six 
generations  ; it  became  the  seat 
of  royalty  under  Assur-natsir-pal 
and  Shalmaneser  II,  27-9  ; the 


156 


INDEX, 


palace  rebuilt  by  Assur-etil-ilani, 
son  of  Assur-bani-pal,  53. 

Chairs,  tables,  and  couches  used  at 
meals,  128. 

Chaldsean  account  of  the  Deluge, 
and  its  relation  to  the  Scriptural 
narrative  ; the  two  compared  and 
contrasted,  81-2. 

Chariots  often  carried  across  moun- 
tains on  the  shoulders  of  men,  or 
animals  ; the  royal  chariot  con- 
tained the  king  and  two  attend- 
ants, and  was  followed  by  a guard 
and  led  horses,  124. 

Charms  and  exorcisms  used  for 
curing  diseases  ; the  knotted 
cord  and  leaves  from  a sacred 
book  ; repute  of  the  witch  and 
wizard,  1 20- 1. 

Code  of  moral  precepts  addressed 
to  princes  and  courtiers  ; earliest 
Accadian  law  book  expressly  pro- 
tected slaves,  138. 

Colossi  dragged  from  the  quarries 
on  land  by  means  of  sledges,  and 
on  rivers  and  canals  by  rafts ; 
Sennacherib  directed  the  removal 
of  winged  bulls  and  deities  from 
Balad,  90-3. 

Contract  tablets  relating  to  loans, 
sales,  leases  of  houses,  and  other 
property : tablets  translated  : 

i.  Loan  of  silver  and  interest 
paid  on  it  ; ii.  Loan  of  bronze  ; 
iii.  Loan  of  silver  ; iv.  Sale  of  a 
house ; v.  Sale  of  slaves,  135- 
7- 

Contrasts  between  the  Assyrians 
and  Babylonians,  66-7. 

Creation  legend  from  Cuthah,  de- 
scribed chaos,  and  the  formation 
of  monsters,  followed  by  more 
perfect  creatures ; the  legend 
from  Assur-bani-pal’s  library  and 
its  remarkable  resemblance  to  the 
account  in  Genesis ; Assyrian 
account,  79,  80-1. 

Cylinder,  part  of,  containing  Heze- 
kiah’s  name,  transcribed  into 


ordinary  characters,  104-5  : com- 
pared with  one  of  Nebuchadnez- 
zar’s inscriptions  ; transliteration 
and  translation  of  part  of  the  in- 
scription, 107-8. 

Cyrus  permitted  the  Assyrians  to 
return  to  their  old  capital,  and 
released  the  Jewish  exiles  from 
Babylon,  53-4. 

D. 

Datilla,  the  river  of  death,  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Euphrates,  where 
Gisdhtabar  saw  the  Chaldaean 
Noah  after  his  translation ; but 
in  later  times  the  entrance  to 
Hades  and  the  site  of  the  earthly 
Paradise  were  removed  to  more 
unknown  regions,  76. 

Death  of  Tammuz  lamented  by 
Jewish  females  in  the  temple  at 
Jerusalem,  65. 

Deeds  and  contracts  signed  and 
sealed  in  the  presence  of  witness, 
or  nail  marks  made  by  those  un- 
able to  write,  and  the  documents 
carefully  preserved,  133. 

Defects  in  the  tablets  caused  by  the 
ignorance  of  the  scribes,  112-3. 

Deluge  sent  as  a punishment  for  the 
wickedness  of  mankind,  82. 

Descent  of  Istar  into  Hades  in 
search  of  Tammuz,  one  of  the 
most  popular  old  Babylonian 
myths  ; her  passage  through  the 
seven  gates  of  the  underworld, 
and  appearance  before  AUat ; the 
myth  explained,  64-5. 

Dread  of  witchcraft  and  magic  ; 
referred  to  in  hymn  to  the  Sun- 
god,  1 13-5. 

Dress  of  all  classes ; the  king  in 
time  of  peace  ; the  upper  classes, 
soldiers,  common  people,  and 
women,  123-4. 

Dur-Sargina,  the  modern  Khorsa- 
bad,  built  by  Sargon,  in  the  form 


INDEX. 


15  7 


of  a square,  surrounded  by  walls 
fortv-six  feet  thick  ; the  outer 
wall  was  flanked  with  towers ; 
description  of  the  palace  and  its 
courts  ; the  royal  chambers  ; the 
observatory  built  in  stages,  86-7. 


E. 

Ea  (the  god),  the  deep,  or  ocean- 
stream,  supposed  to  surround  the 
earth  like  a serpent  ; his  symbol, 
attributes,  and  title ; Eridu  the 
chief  seat  of  his  worship,  near 
the  sacred  grove  where  the  tree 
of  life  and  knowledge  had  its 
roots ; Ea,  a benevolent  deity, 
who  taught  the  art  of  healing 
and  culture  to  mankind  ; his 
wife,  Dav-kina,  presided  over  the 
lower  world,  59. 

Eclipse  of  the  sun  and  revolt  of 
city  of  Assur,  33. 

Educated  Assyrians  and  traders  con- 
versant with  several  languages, 

101. 

Education  widely  diffused  through- 
out Babylonia ; few  unable  to 
read  and  write,  95. 

Egibi,  eminent  bankers  during  the 
reigns  of  Sennacherib  and  Esar- 
haddon,  to  Darius  and  Xerxes  ; 
the  name  a very  exact  transcript 
of  the  Biblical  Jacob,  138. 

Eponyms,  officers  after  whom  the 
year  was  named  ; lists  determine 
both  the  Assyrian  and  Biblical 
chronology,  102. 

Erimenas,  king  of  Armenia,  com- 
pletely defeated  near  Malatiyeh 
in  Kappadokia,  46. 

Esar-haddon,  shortly  after  his  fa- 
ther’s murder,  defeated  his  insur- 
gent brothers  and  Erimenas,  near 
Malatiyeh,  and  was  then  pro- 
claimed king  ; he  possessed  mili- 
tary genius  and  political  tact,  and 
was  the  first  king  who  ccncihated 


the  conquered  nations ; Egypt 
was  subdued ; Babylon  rebuilt, 
and  the  plunder  and  the  gods 
returned  to  the  inhabitants  ; Ma- 
nasseh  brought  captive  before 
him ; trade  diverted  into  Assyrian 
channels,  and  secured  by  a daring 
march  to  IIuz  and  Buz ; terrified 
the  Arabs;  drove  Teispes  west- 
wards ; worked  the  copper  mines 
of  Media;  exacted  tribute  from 
Cyprus,  where  he  obiained  some 
of  the  materials  of  his  palace  at 
Nineveh,  46-8 ; he  completely 
overran  Egypt,  divided  the 
country  into  27  satrapies  placed 
under  governors  watched  by  As- 
syrian garrisons,  48. 

Esar-haddon  II,  called  Sarakos  by 
the  Greeks,  on  ascending  the 
throne  was  surrounded  by  foes ; 
the  frontier  towns  fell  quickly, 
and  a public  fast  was  proclaimed 
and  prayers  offered  to  the  gods  to 
ward  off  the  doom  of  Nineveh, 
but  the  city  was  besieged,  cap- 
tured, and  destroyed,  53. 

Etana,  the  Babylonian  Titan,  and 
his  exploits,  83  ; legend  ascribed 
to  Nis-Sin,  no. 


F. 

Fables,  riddles,  and  proverbs  an- 
ciently, as  now,  the  delight  of 
Orientals ; riddle  propounded  to 
Nergal  and  the  other  gods,  109. 

Fate  of  Nineveh  after  its  iniquity 
was  full ; the  very  site  unknown 
for  ages,  53. 

Fishing  carried  on  with  a line 
merely,  13 1. 

Forbidden  foods  ; fasts  and  humi- 
liations in  times  of  public  cala- 
mity, 73 


158 


INDEX. 


G. 

Gisdhubar  epic ; structure  and 
contents  ; each  of  its  twelve  books 
corresponded  to  one  of  the  signs 
of  the  zodiac ; history  of  the 
Deluge  contained  in  the  eleventh 
book ; Gisdhubar  a solar  hero, 
and  his  adventures  compared  with 
the  labours  of  Heracles  ; resem- 
blance of  Accadian  and  Greek 
myths ; date  of  the  epic  more 
than  2000  years  before  Christ ; 
farmed  of  older  lays  put  together 
to  form  a single  poem,  1 10-12. 

Goyim,  over  which  Tidal  was  king, 
probably  comprised  in  Gutium,  or 
Kurdistan,  23. 


Hadadezer  (the  Biblical  Benhadad) 
of  Damascus  formed  a confede- 
racy with  Hamath  and  Israel 
against  the  Assyrians ; Ahab’s 
contingent ; rout  of  the  allies  at 
Karkar,  or  Aroer,  31. 

Hades  a dreary  abode,  where  spirits 
flitted,  like  bats,  among  the 
crowned  phantoms  of  heroes  ; 
palace  of  Allat,  where  the  waters 
of  life,  near  the  golden  throne, 
restored  to  life  and  the  upper  air 
those  who  drank  of  them  ; en- 
trance, the  River  Datilla,  75-6. 

Hanging  gardens,  watered  by  means 
of  a screw,  118. 

Hazael  utterly  routed  by  Shalmane- 
ser II  on  the  heights  of  Shenir; 
camp,  chariots,  and  carriages  cap- 
tured, and  siege  laid  to  Damascus, 
3i- 

Helbon  noted  for  its  wines ; still 
called  Halbun,  127. 

Highroads  and  brickyards  placed 
under  commissioners,  13 1-2. 

Human  sacrifices  an  Accadian  in- 
stitution ; children  burnt  to  death 


as  expiatory  offerings  by  their 
fathers,  75. 

Hymn  to  the  Sun-god,  a mixture  of 
exalted  thought  and  debasing 
superstition,  113-5- 

Hymns  in  honour  of  the  different 
deities  collected  into  a sacred 
book ; Semitic  translations  made, 
but  the  hymns  recited  long  after- 
wards in  the  original  Accadian 
language,  67-8. 

I. 

Inferior  deities  classed  among  ‘ the 
300  spirits  of  heaven  ’ and  ‘ the 
600  spirits  of  earth,’  57. 

Inscription  containing  Hezekiah’s 
name  transliterated  and  trans- 
lated, 101-8. 

Israelite  officials  witnesses  of  deed 
of  sale,  137. 

Istar.  the  great  Accadian  goddess,  < 
unlike  the  Beltis  or  Bilat,  wife  of 
Baal,  had  independent  attributes 
as  strongly  marked  as  those  of 
the  gods,  and  was  known  as  the 
evening  star,  57  ; she  became  the 
Semitic  Ashtoreth,  and  was  the 
goddess  of  love,  war,  and  the 
chase  ; she  was  associated  with 
Tammuz  ; her  different  attri- 
butes, temples,  and  worship  in 
different  places,  1 2-4. 

J. 

Jehu’s  tribute  to  Shalmaneser  II, 
gold  and  sdver  drinking  vessels, 
a sceptre,  and  spear  handles,  32. 

Jewish  seals  probably  earlier  than 
the  Babylonish  exile  found  at 
Diarbekr  and  other  places  near 
the  Tigris  and  Euphrates,  138. 


INDEX. 


K. 

Kandalanu,  viceroy  of  Babylon 
twenty-two  years  ; the  father  of 
Nabopolassar,  53. 

Karkar  or  Aroer,  battle  of,  and  de- 
feat of  Benhadad  and  his  allies, 
3i. 

Khumbaba  the  tyrant,  slain  by  Gis- 
dhubar  ‘ in  the  land  of  the  pine 
trees,’  hi. 

King  only  supreme  in  military 
affairs,  and  assisted  by  two  com- 
manders-in-chief ; lists  of  offi- 
cials, their  titles  and  duties,  144. 

L. 

Legend  of  Lubara,  the  plague  de- 
mon, smiting  the  evil-doers  of 
Babylon  and  Erech,  and  its  par- 
tial resemblance  to  the  angel  of 
the  Lord  standing  with  a drawn 
sword  over  Jerusalem  as  a punish- 
ment of  David’s  sins,  78. 

Libraries  early  established  in  all  the 
great  cities,  as  Assur,  Calah,  and 
Nineveh  ; the  last  filled  by  As- 
sur-bani-pal  with  copies  of  the 
plundered  books  of  Babylonia, 
99 ; lexical  and  grammatical 
phrase  books,  and  lists  of  the 
names  of  animals,  birds,  reptiles, 
fish,  stones,  vegetables,  and  titles 
of  military  and  civil  officers,  were 
contained  in  the  different  books 
stored  up  for  reference,  100-1  ; 
all  the  branches  of  learning  then 
known  were  included  ; also  dis- 
patches of  generals,  reports  of 
astronomers,  royal  letters,  and 
lists  of  eponyms,  102. 

Library  of  Nineveh,  rich  in  poetical 
literature,  comprised  epics,  hymns 
to  the  gods,  psalms,  and  songs ; 
songs  to  Assur  of  Assyrian  origin, 
the  epics,  Babylonian,  Accadian, 
and  partly  Semitic,  by  native 
poets,  109-10.  I 


159 

Liturgy  contained  rubrics  for  par- 
ticular days,  and  direction  of  the 
priests,  68. 

M. 

March,  order  of,  in  a campaign; 
the  king  and  his  attendants,  cha- 
rioteers, heavy  and  light  cavalry, 
bowmen  and  infantry  variously 
equipped,  125-6;  king  and  nobles 
only  allowed  tents  ; a royal  chair 
called  a nimedu  carried  for  the 
king’s  use ; bas-relief  of  Sennache- 
rib seated  on  one,  before  Lachish, 
126. 

Medicines,  classification  of  diseases, 
prescriptions,  and  incantations, 
119-20. 

Merodach,  originally  a form  of  the 
Sun-god  ; a benevolent  and  in- 
tercessory deity,  represented  as 
continually  passing  between  earth 
and  heaven,  informing  Ea  of  the 
sufferings  of  mankind,  and  striv- 
ing to  alleviate  them ; he  de- 
stroyed the  demon  Tiamat,  and 
was  commonly  addressed  as  ‘ Bel  ’ 
or  ‘ Lord  ;’  his  star  Jupiter  ; and 
his  wife  Zir-panitu,  60. 

Merodach-Baladan’s  envoys  in- 
duced Hezekiah  to  join  the  con- 
federacy of  Phoenicia,  Moab, 
Edom,  Philistia,  and  Egypt 
against  the  Assyrians  ; but  Sar- 
gon’s  rapid  movements  surprised 
them  ; Phoenicia  and  Judah  were 
overrun,  and  A.shdod  burnt  before 
the  arrival  of  the  Egyptians ; 
Merodach- Baladan  in  his  own 
country  made  vigorous  efforts  to 
repel  the  attack  of  the  conqueror 
on  his  return;  but  the  Elamite 
allies  were  put  to  flight,  and  Sar- 
gon  entered  Babylon  in  triumph  ; 
the  following  year  Merodach- 
Baladan  was  pursued  to  Beth- 
Yagina,  which  was  taken  by 


i6o 


INDEX. 


storm,  and  the  defenders  sent  in 
chains  to  Nineveh ; Merodach- 
Baladan  escaped,  and  two  years 
afterwards  again  seized  Babylon, 
but  was  defeated  at  the  battle  of 
Kis,  and  a second  time  became  a 
fugitive,  40-1. 

Modes  of  assaulting  fortified  towns, 
and  fearful  atrocities  committed 
by  the  conquerors,  126-8. 

Monotheists  who  flourished  in  Chal- 
daea  in  pre-Semitic  times,  re- 
solved the  various  deities  into 
manifestations  of  one  supreme 
god,  Anu;  old  hymns  refer  to 
‘ the  one  god,’  58-9. 

Myths  common  to  all  old  forms  of 
faith,  77-8. 


N. 

Nabopolassar  renounced  his  alle- 
giance to  Nineveh,  and  prepared 
the  way  for  his  son  Nebuchad- 
nezzar’s empire,  53. 

Names  of  Assyrian  kings  explained, 

54. 

Nebo  the  god  of  oratory  and  litera- 
ture, said  to  have  invented  the 
cuneiform  system  of  writing ; 
great  temple  at  Borsippa  dedi- 
cated to  him  ; his  worship  carried 
to  Canaan,  as  seen  in  the  names  of 
a city  and  a mountain ; had  a 
temple  at  Bahrein  under  the  name 
of  Enzak  ; as  a planetary  deity  he 
represented  Mercury,  and  was 
often  adored  as  Nusku,  perhaps, 
the  Nisroch  of  the  Bible,  61. 

Nergal,  the  god  of  hunting  and  war, 
also  presided  with  Anu  over  the 
regions  of  the  dead,  65. 

Nineveh,  probably  coeval  with  the 
city  of  Assur,  but  only  became 
the  capital  at  a much  later  period; 
after  the  fall  of  the  Assyriam  Em- 
pire its  site  was  forgotten  for 
ages ; Rich’s  conjecture  verified 


by  Layard’s  excavations,  and  its 
buried  treasures  again  brought  to 
light,  25-6. 


o. 

‘Observations  of  Bel,’  the  great 
work  on  astronomy  and  astrology, 
compiled  at  Accad  for  Sargon, 
mostly  a record  of  eclipses  of  the 
sun  and  moon,  conjunctions  and 
phases  of  Venus  and  Mars  ; the 
time  of  the  new  year  ; the  zodi- 
acal signs  named,  and  the  divi- 
sions of  the  year,  102,  115-6. 

Observatories  in  all  the  great  cities  ; 
specimens  of  the  astronomers’ 
fortnightly  reports,  117-8. 

Official  lists  and  titles  almost  end- 
less ; rank  and  office  of  the  prin- 
cipal, 144. 

Omens,  work  on,  in  137  books 
compiled  for  Sargon,  known  to 
the  last  days  of  the  Empire,  102. 

Ox-driver’s  labour  song  in  the  fields, 

109. 


P. 

Paradises  or  parks  planted  by  the 
kings  ; gardens  and  shrubberies 
containing  summer-houses  by  the 
wealthy;  hanging  garden,  130-1. 

Penitential  psalms  composed  at  a 
very  remote  period,  one  of  the 
finest  addressed  to  Istar,  71-3. 

Phoenician  galley  builders  and 
sailors  employed  by  Sennacherib 
on  the  Persian  Gulf  in  his  attack 
on  the  last  refuge  of  the  Chal- 
dseans,  132. 

Planisphere  from  Nineveh,  and  a 
table  of  lunar  longitudes,  116-7. 

Polygamy  practised  by  the  king, 
and  the  palace  guarded  by  eu- 
nuchs, 129. 

Prayer  after  a bad  dream,  70. 


INDEX. 


161 


Prayer  of  an  Assyrian  court  for  the 
king,  76. 

Prayers  to  Bel  and  various  deities 
on  different  occasions,  68-70. 

Private  will  of  Sennacherib  in  fa- 
vour of  Esar-haddon,  134. 

Proud  boast  of  the  Babylonian 
monarch  about  exalting  his  throne 
above  the  stars,  and  sitting  in  the 
assembly  of  the  gods,  77. 

Pul,  a military  adventurer,  seized 
the  crown,  B.c.  743,  and  assumed 
the  name  of  Tiglath-Pileser  II  ; 
he  was  an  able  ruler,  a good  gene- 
ral, and  a skilful  administrator, 
and  consolidated  the  empire  by 
deporting  the  turbulent  popula- 
tions to  distant  homes,  and  im- 
porting others;  he  divided  the 
empire  into  provinces,  and  fixed 
the  annual  tribute ; he  endea- 
voured to  subvert  the  power  of 
the  Hittites  of  Carchemish,  and 
turn  the  trade  of  Asia  Minor  into 
Assyrian  channels,  and  render 
Syria  and  Phoenicia  tributary,  34 ; 
he  annexed  Northern  Babylonia, 
punished  the  Kurds,  utterly  de- 
feated Sarduris  and  his  confede- 
rates, and  captured  Arpad  after  a 
siege  of  two  years  ; he  stormed 
Hamath,  and  transplanted  part  of 
the  inhabitants  to  Armenia  ; he 
received  tribute  from  the  Syrian 
kings,  and  Menahem,  Rezon, 
Hiram,  and  Pisiris  ; he  blockaded 
Van,  and  ravaged  the  surround- 
ing country,  35-6  ; he  was  heavily 
bribed  by  Ahaz  to  attack  Rezon 
and  Pekah  ; Damascus  was  in- 
vested and  forced  to  surrender 
through  famine,  and  forces  were 
sent  against  the  Ammonites, 
Moabites,  and  Philistines  ; on  the 
fall  of  Damascus  it  was  plundered 
and  the  inhabitants  transplanted 
to  Kir ; Babylonia  was  reduced, 
and  under  his  original  name  of 
Pul,  he  assumed  the  title  of  King 


of  Sumir  (Shinar)  and  Accad, 

37- 

R. 

Relative  rank  of  women  in  Accadian 
and  Babylonian  times,  139. 

Religion  of  Assyria,  including  dei- 
ties and  beliefs  borrowed  from 
Babylonia;  but  the  Semites  had 
greatly  modified  the  original  Ac- 
cadian conceptions  ; belief  of  the 
Zf,  evil  and  good  spirits  ; diseases 
caused  by  demoniacal  possession, 
and  only  curable  by  exorcisms  and 
charms  ; the  spirits  most  dreaded 
those  who  had  been  raised  to  the 
position  of  gods,  as  Anu,  Mul-ge, 
and  Ea ; spirits  of  the  heavenly 
bodies,  55-6  ; curious  contrasts  ; 
polytheism  and  monotheism, 
83-4  ; victories  ascribed  to  Assur, 
and  wars  undertaken  in  his  name  ; 
inconsistency  and  changes  in  the 
cult  explained ; inferiority  to  the 
faith  of  Israel,  84-5. 

Rents  paid  by  tenants  of  land  in 
Babylonia,  139. 

Repetition  of  the  names  of  the  gods, 
and  its  efficacy,  73. 

Resen,  name  found  in  the  inscrip- 
tions, but  the  site  not  yet  deter- 
mined ; its  meaning,  22-3. 

Rimmon  or  Ramman,  ‘ the  thun- 
derer,’  the  god  of  the  atmosphere  , 
rain,  and  storms;  his  cult  ex- 
tended to  Syria,  and  he  appears 
to  have  been  the  chief  deity  of 
Damascus,  where  he  was  known 
as  Hadad  or  Dadda,  61. 

Rimmon-nirari  I,  inscriptions  of ; 
his  wars  against  the  Babylonians, 
Kurds,  and  Shuites,  27. 

Roads  formed  and  kept  in  good 
condition,  13 1-2. 

Rowandiz,  where  the  ark  is  sup- 
posed to  have  rested  ; a snow- 
clad  peak,  ‘ the  mountain  of  the 
world,’  and  ‘ the  mountain  of  the 

L 


INDEX. 


162 


East ;’  nought  to  be  the  abode  of 
the  gods,  and  the  support  of  the 
vault  of  heaven,  77,  82. 

Royal  hunts,  at  first  wild  elephants 
and  lions;  but  under  Esar-haddon 
had  degenerated  into  a battue  of 
tamed  animals  kept  in  cages  for 
the  purpose,  129,  130. 


s. 

Sabbath  early  known,  but  con- 
founded with  the  feast  of  the  New 
Moon ; kept  on  the  seventh,  four- 
teenth, twenty-first,  and  twenty- 
eighth  day  of  the  lunar  month, 
73-4. 

Sale  of  Israelitish  slaves  by  a Phoe- 
nician; another  sale  afterwards  of 
seven  persons  included  an  Israelite 
called  Hoshea  and  his  two  wives, 
133- 

Samas,  the  Sun-god,  was  the  son 
of  Sin,  in  accordance  with  the 
astronomical  view  of  the  old 
Babylonians ; he  was  really  only 
a form  of  Merodach,  though  in 
historical  times  the  two  were 
separated,  and  received  different 
cults ; originally  identical  with 
Tammuz,  through  the  myth  of 
Istar,  separate  attributes  were 
assigned  to  him,  and  Tammuz 
became  a deity  distinct  from 
Samas,  61-2. 

Samas  - Rimmon,  Shalmaneser’s 
second  son,  quelled  the  revolt 
against  his  father,  and  succeeded 
him  as  king  of  Assyria,  32. 

Sar,  the  god  of  the  firmament ; 
afterwards  confused  with  the 
name  of  the  patron  deity  of  the 
capital  of  the  country,  22.  ( See 

Assur. ) 

Sargon,  a usurper,  claimed  royal 
descent ; was  an  able  general,  but 
a rough  and  energetic  ruler,  37- 
8;  two  years  after  his  accession 


captured  .Samaria,  and  removed 
the  inhabitants  to  Gozan ; he 
found  the  task  of  cementing 
together  the  empire  formed  by 
Tiglath-Pileser  by  no  means  easy; 
Babylonia  had  thrown  off  the 
yoke,  and  submitted  to  Mero- 
dach-Baladan ; Elam  threatened 
him  on  the  south ; the  Kurds 
renewed  their  depredations  on 
the  east;  the  Hittites  of  Car- 
chemish  were  unsubdued,  Syria 
held  with  difficulty,  and  Egypt 
appeared  as  a new  enemy,  38 ; 
he  drove  the  Elamites  back  into 
their  own  country,  suppressed 
the  revolt  of  Hamath,  and  burnt 
the  city;  put  Yabu-bihdi  or  Ilu- 
bihdi  to  a horrible  death,  marched 
along  the  coast  of  Palestine,  and 
roused  the  Egyptian  army  at  Ra- 
phia,  taking  its  ally  the  king  of 
Gaza  captive,  38-9;  he  stormed 
Carchemish,  took  Pisiris  prisoner, 
and  the  allies  fled  northward;  the 
city  was  plundered,  and  an 
Assyrian  satrap  appointed  over 
it;  he  had  now  gained  the  high 
road  of  the  caravan  trade  between 
Eastern  and  Western  Asia;  the 
Hittite  allies  continued  the 
struggle  six  years,  when  Van  sub- 
mitted, and  its  king  Ursa  com- 
mitted suicide ; Cilicia  and  Tubal 
were  placed  under  an  Assyrian 
governor,  and  the  city  of  Mala- 
tiyeh  was  razed  to  the  ground, 
39 ; Merodoch-Baladan  had 
formed  a powerful  combination 
against  Sargon  in  the  west,  of 
Judah,  Phoenicia,  Edom,  Phi- 
listia,  and  Egypt,  but  before  the 
confederates  were  ready  to  act 
together,  Sargon  overran  Pales- 
tine, captured  Jerusalem,  and 
burnt  Ashdod;  he  next  hurled 
his  forces  against  Babylonia, 
compelled  the  Elamites  to  retire, 
and  entered  the  capital  in 


INDEX. 


1^3 


triumph;  the  following  year  he 
pursued  Merodach-Baladan  to 
Beth-Yagin,  which  was  taken  by 
storm,  and  the  defenders  sent  in 
chains  to  Nineveh,  but  Merodach- 
Baladan  escaped,  40-1;  extent  of 
Sargon’s  empire,  and  conquests ; 
murdered  by  his  own  soldiers  in 
Dur-Sargon,  his  new  city,  41 ; 
succeeded  by  his  son  Sennache- 
rib, 41. 

Science  mixed  with  superstition ; 
astronomy  with  astrology ; the 
observation  of  nature  with  augury, 
1 1 5 ; modes  of  measuring  time 
and  determining  the  beginning  of 
the  year,  116. 

Script  characters  generally  used  for 
official  and  private  documents; 
this  mode  of  writing  clear,  well- 
defined,  and  continued  nearly  the 
same  till  the  fall  of  Nineveh; 
clay  tablets  small,  but  well  baked 
in  a kiln;  characters  sometimes 
very  minute,  and  must  have  been 
formed  with  the  aid  of  a magni- 
fying  glass,  96-7. 

Sennacherib  had  been  brought  up  in 
the  purple;  was  weak,  boastful, 
and  cruel,  and  only  preserved  the 
empire  by  the  help  of  his  father’s 
veterans  and  generals;  Merodach- 
Baladan  escaped  from  captivity, 
and  again  seized  Babylon,  but 
was  driven  from  the  country  after 
the  battle  of  Kis,  41-2;  Senna- 
cherib next  invaded  Phoenicia 
and  Judah  and  the  neighbouring 
countries ; Assyrian  account  of  the 
battle  of  Eltekeh ; capture  of 
illustrious  persons  and  spoil ; his 
boast  of  cities  taken  and  tribute ; 
but  entire  silence  about  the  terri- 
ble disaster  he  sustained  near 
Jerusalem,  and  his  precipitate 
flight;  the  following  year  he  sup- 
pressed Nergal-yusezib’s  revolt, 
and  appointed  Assur  Nadin-sumi 
viceroy  of  Babylon,  42-5;  pur- 


sued the  Chaldaean  refugees  and 
destroyed  their  last  settlements 
on  the  Persian  Gulf,  45;  Elam 
next  invaded  Babylonia,  and 
placed  Nergal-yusezib  on  the 
throne;  defeated  the  Assyrians 
near  Nipur,  but  died  soon  after- 
wards ; he  was  succeeded  by 
Musezib,  who  defied  the  power 
of  Assyria  nearly  four  years,  but 
was  beaten  in  the  decisive  battle 
of  Khalule;  the  following  year 
Sennacherib  captured  Babylon, 
and  gave  it  up  to  fire  and  the 
sword ; the  inhabitants  were  sold 
into  slavery,  and  the  waters  of  the 
Araxes  canal  overflowed  the 
ruined  city;  his  Cilician  campaign 
the  last ; the  rest  of  his  life  spent 
in  constructing  canals,  aqueducts, 
and  rebuilding  the  palace  at 
Nineveh;  he  was  murdered  by 
his  two  elder  sons  whilst  wor- 
shipping in  the  temple  of  his  god, 
46. 

Shalmaneser  I said  to  have  built 
Calah,  and  his  descendants 
reigned  uninterruptedly  six  gene- 
rations, 27. 

Shalmaneser  II,  his  great  military 
successes  and  long  reign,  the  cli- 
max of  the  first  Assyrian  empire; 
his  annals  contained  on  a mono- 
lith near  Diarbekr,  a small  obe- 
lisk, and  on  the  bronze  frame- 
work of  the  gates  of  Balawat; 
Jehu  one  of  his  tributaries;  his 
campaign  against  the  Kurds,  Van, 
and  the  Manna  or  Minni;  com- 
pelled the  Hittites  to  sue  for 
peace,  and  recaptured  Pethor, 
29-31;  defeated  Benhadad  and 
his  allies  at  Aroer  or  Karkar,  and 
twelve  years  afterwards  com- 
pletely crushed  the  power  of 
Hazael  on  the  heights  of  Shenir, 
laid  siege  to  Damascus,  ravaged 
the  Hauran,  and  marched  to 
Baal-rosh,  where  his  image  was 


164 


INDEX. 


carved  on  the  rocky  promontory, 
3 1-2 ; little  further  attempted  by 
the  king,  besides  exacting  tribute 
from  distant  regions;  revolt  of  his 
eldest  son,  joined  by  twenty-seven 
cities,  put  down  by  the  energy  and 
military  capacity  of  Samas- 
Rimmon,  31-2. 

Shalmaneser  III,  a usurper  of  Tinu ; 
he  attempted  the  capture  of  Tyre, 
began  a war  against  Israel,  but 
had  scarcely  laid  siege  to  Samaria 
when  he  died  or  was  murdered, 
and  was  succeeded  by  Sargon, 
another  usurper,  37. 

Sin,  the  Moon-god,  called  Agu  or 
Acu  by  the  Accadians,  was  the 
patron  deity  of  Ur;  had  a famous 
temple  in  the  ancient  city  of 
Harran,  where  he  was  symbolised 
by  an  upright  cone  of  stone ; his 
emblem  was  the  crescent  moon, 
62. 

T. 

Table  of  Semitic  Babylonian  kings 
arranged  in  dynasties,  which 
traces  them  back  to  B.c.  2330;  a 
recent  discovery,  102. 

Tables  of  squares  and  cubes  found 
at  Larsa,  also  geometrical  figures 
used  for  augury;  the  mathematical 
unit,  and  mode  of  expression, 

132-3. 

Temple,  Assyro-Babylonian,  and  its 
points  of  resemblance  to  Solo- 
mon’s, 74-5;  entrances  to  temples 
and  palaces  guarded  by  colossal 
figures  of  winged  bulls;  temples 
filled  with  images  of  the  gods, 
great  and  small,  which  were  sup- 
posed to  confer  special  sanctity 
on  the  place;  offerings  of  two 
kinds,  sacrifices  and  meal  offer- 
ings ; no  traces  of  human  sacrifices 
among  the  Assyrians,  although 
an  Accadian  institution ; referred 
to  in  an  old  astrological  work, 


where  children  were  allowed  to 
be  offered  by  the  fathers  as  expi- 
atory sacrifices,  74-5. 

Tiamat,  the  dragon,  destroyed  by 
Merodach,  60,  78-9. 

Tiglath-Pileser  I,  his  conquests  in 
Cilicia,  Kurdistan;  defeated  the 
Moschi,  Hittites,  and  their 
Colchian  allies,  and  erected  a 
memorial  of  his  exploits  near  the 
sources  of  the  Tigris;  he  garri- 
soned Pethor  with  Assyrian  sol- 
diers, and  on  his  return  to  Nineveh 
planted  a park  with  strange  trees 
brought  back  with  him  during  his 
campaigns;  he  invaded  Babylonia, 
and  was  at  first  repulsed,  but  was 
victorious  afterwards,  ravaged  the 
country,  and  captured  Babylon, 
28. 

Tower  of  Babel,  building  destroyed 
by  winds  in  the  night,  and  ‘ great 
and  small,’  as  well  as  their 
speech  confounded  by  Anu,  82- 
3- 

Trade,  its  rise  and  growth  under 
the  Second  Empire ; fall  of  Car- 
chemish  and  the  Phoenician  cities; 
the  standard  of  weight,  ‘ the 
maneh,’  and  Aramaic,  the  lan- 
guage of  commerce,  132-3. 


V. 

Van,  the  capital  of  Ararat,  success- 
fully resisted  the  Assyrians,  whilst 
the  country  far  and  near  was 
wasted  for  a space  of  450  miles, 
36 ; submitted  to  Sargon,  and  its 
king  Ursa  committed  suicide,  39; 
Van  sought  an  alliance  with 
Assur-bani-pal,  52. 


w. 

Witches  and  wizards  held  in  high 
repute,  12 1. 


INDEX. 


I05 


Woman’s  position  in  Accad  and 
Babylonia,  139. 


X. 

Xisuthros,  the  Chaldsean  Noah, 
sails  in  a ship  containing  others 
beside  his  own  family,  steered 
by  a pilot ; whilst  the  flood  was  at 
its  height,  sent  out  a raven,  dove, 
and  swallow,  to  ascertain  how  far 
the  waters  had  abated;  his  vessel 


rested  on  Rowandiz,  and  Xisu- 
thros, immediately  after  his  de- 
scent, sacrificed  to  the  gods,  and 
was  translated  to  the  land  of 
immortality,  81-2. 


z. 

Zu,  ‘ the  divine  storm  bird,’  who 
stole  the  lightning  of  Bel,  the 
parallel  of  the  Greek  story  of 
Prometheus,  78. 


INDEX  OF  SCRIPTURE  REFERENCES. 


Page 

Page 

Gen. 

X.  II 

22 

Ezra  ii.  29  ... 

...  61 

55 

».  18 

••  143 

„ iv.  10 

...  48 

55 

xiv.  i 

...  23 

Deut 

Is.  x.  34  

...  13 

. iii.  9 

...  31 

,,  xiv.  9 

...  76 

55 

xxn.  49 

...  61 

„ „ 13,  14 

...  77 

,,  XIX.  25  

...  14 

Josh. 

xv.  59 

...  58 

,,  XX.  I 

40 

,, 

xix.  38 

...  58 

„ xxii.  14  ... 

...  14 

„ xliv.  i 7 

...  64 

i Kings  viii. 

13  ... 

12 

„ li.  27  

..  30 

5 

, x.  28 

...  143 

. „ >,  30  

...  30 

2 Kings  xv. 

19 

•••  35 

Ezek.  viii.  14 

...  65 

, XVI. 

10 

•••  37 

,,  xxiii.  14 

...  86 

, , 

xvii. 

30  ... 

...60,  65 

,,  xxvii.  18 

...  128 

”. .. 

31  ••• 

...  66 

,, 

xviii 

.26 

...  IOI 

Nahum  i.  8 ... 

...  25 

,5 

30  ... 

...  IOI 

,,  ii.  6,  8,  12  ... 

...  25 

,, 

xix. 

37 

61 

,,  iii.  8... 

-I5,5i 

5 J 

XX. 

11 

...  116 

Zech.  ix.  1 ... 

...  143 

2 Chron.  xxxiii.  n ... 

...  47 

Harrison  & Sons,  Printers  in  Ordinary  to  Her  Majesty,  St.  Martin’s  Lane. 


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Hi 

fjl  NILE.  By  E.  A.  Wall  is 

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BIBLE  By  SirJ.Hisdon 
Bennett, MB, ER.S.,  Ex- 
President  of  the  Royal 
College  of  Physicians.  2.6. 


by-paths 

OF 

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